Newbury College pub plans approved

The 180 cover family pub and restaurant, called ‘The Two Water Mills’ will be situated just yards away from a children’s nursery and on the fringes of the proposed 2,000 home Sandleford Park development.
It will feature a terrace, garden and children’s play area with equipment, along with 59 car parking spaces and 12 cycle stands and is expected to open this autumn.
Marston’s Brewery, who will run the pub, say it will create up to fifty new jobs.
A spokesperson for the brewery said: “The name ‘The Two Mills’ was chosen because there is an area called West Mills which is 1.6 mile away from the pub and that is the location where two water mills sprung up to grind corn and finish cloth.”
They added that it was chosen to celebrate “Newbury’s historical links with the building trade and transport links to London.”
Local historian Dr David Peacock said: “West Mills and Town Mills are probably the two mill sites recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086 and were of major importance to the town of Newbury for centuries.”
Vehicle access to the site will be via the existing entrance to the college from Monks Lane, while the existing pedestrian footway from Monks Lane to the college would be rerouted to the west of the pub.
The gate at the college entrance would also be relocated – to the south of the Marston’s vehicular entrance – to maintain security for the college and nursery during evenings and weekends.
Greenham Parish Council wrote a formal letter of objection to the plans, saying that putting a licensed premises in close proximity to an educational establishment was “inappropriate”.
However, the proposals were given the green light by the district council earlier this month and work is expected to start at the site shortly.
The pub will be licensed to serve alcohol from 10am to midnight on Monday to Thursday, 10am to 1am on Friday and Saturday and from 11am to midnight on Sundays.
Developers will make a financial contribution of £33,000 for local improvement works.