Former Defiance Inn pub set to become shared housing

The plans seek approval to transform the Stoke Street pub, which has stood empty since 1996, into a house in multiple occupation (HMO) and two flats.

According to the proposed floor plans, the first self-contained flat would be all at ground level, with the second flat utilising the existing basement space for kitchen and dining.

The HMO would have one ground floor bedroom, with four others and a communal kitchen/dining space proposed for the first floor.

Three car parking spaces and a bike storage area have also been proposed.

The planning statement submitted declares: "The proposal is a wholly deliverable prospect, making effective use of land and providing a visual uplift to the area, without undue harms, whilst offering future residents a genuine choice of sustainable transport methods to access a wide range of services, facilities and amenities.

"The scheme would not dramatically alter the existing aesthetic of the area.

"The street scene would be uplifted by the use and conversion of the longstanding dilapidated site."

The Defiance Inn, along from Ipswich train station, closed its doors in 1996.

The Defiance Inn, 1975 (Image: Archant)

The site was converted into housing but was later boarded up and has sat empty for much of this century. It is now semi-derelict.

The pub has seen multiple redevelopment proposals over recent years but none have come to fruition.

A previous application to build 31 new homes on the site was approved in 2019 but not progressed.

In 2018 a proposal that would have seen one block containing 27 flats built at the rear of the land was withdrawn over concerns with the design and appearance of the development - as well as fears from Suffolk Highways that access to the site would be on too steep a road.

And plans for student accommodation were submitted in 2005, which could have seen 146 student rooms and eight apartments built at the site to service the nearby University of Suffolk on Ipswich Waterfront.