Sussex village pub outlines plans for new houses within its grounds

Simon and Beth Johnson – landlords of the White Horse Inn in Park Lane, Maplehurst – are currently seeking planning permission from Horsham District Council to build a bungalow and two three-bedroom houses in a field behind pub.

Agents ML Surveyors, in a statement to Horsham District Council, say that the pub would “remain a trading entity serving the local community as an identified community asset.”

They say that the three new detached properties would be built on a grassed area behind the pub beyond an existing beer garden and that they would be designed to blend in with the surrounding area and village/hamlet centre.

It is also planned to build a new access road and the agents say that trees in the area would be protected.

Beth and Simon Johnson have been running the White Horse since 1982. On their website, they say: “We pride ourselves on maintaining that traditional country pub feeling” and they add they have “always kept to the principle of a friendly pub, serving good beer and classic pub grub.

"In fact the homemade chilli, cooked from Beth's secret family recipe, has become something of a local phenomenon.”

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The White Horse Inn has featured in the Good Beer Guide for more than 30 years.

It regularly host events, including the Maplehurst Village Day, a local farmers’ market, an annual onion competition and visits from local Morris troupes. Barbecues are regularly held in summer.