Stamford Arms

The Stamford Arms Pub in Little Bollington was a mock-Tudor Edwardian building which had been empty since the pub shut down in 2012. Almost 18 months in the making, the proposals for a sensitively located heritage site within the Cheshire green belt saw the restoration of the former public house into nine affordable apartments.

The stable block and coach houses were converted and restored into five mews cottages and there were four new bespoke family houses on the former car park – all designed by award-winning Altrincham based Project 3 Architects.

Local interest in the scheme had been high which meant that this was no standard planning application. Suggestions and feedback were welcomed and significantly informed the design development. As part of the planning application, we worked with Novo Property Group to minimise any impact on the green belt site’s existing established trees and hedgerows.

Green Belt is one of the highest levels of designation land can be given. We carried out a detailed Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment to identify the predicted impacts of the proposed scheme on the environment from twelve possible viewpoint locations in both summer and winter.

We demonstrated how the new development could be an improvement on the existing derelict site and how new more appropriate planting would help have a positive impact on the surrounding landscape character, the North Cheshire Green Belt and nearby Dunham Massey, itself a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The project was carefully implemented with the addition of native hedgerows and oak trees, which were thoughtfully selected to reinforce the local landscape character. The landscape improvements were designed to create a cohesive and visually appealing environment that respects the area’s natural heritage while contributing to the development’s value.

Once complete, all nine apartments in the main refurbished pub building were available to buy as shared ownership products. Importantly, these apartments were offered to Little Bollington residents first.