Housing and shop plan for former hotel

Town hall planning officers are now considering the bid to transform the Famous Pagefield Hotel on the corner of Park Road and Gidlow Lane with a decision expected later this year.

The application outlines plans to turn the ground floor into a retail or restaurant area with eight apartments on the upper floor.

A further residential development is planned for the site’s adjoining bowling green with more than a dozen apartments.

The Famous Pagefield, recognised as a borough landmark due to its striking architectural features, closed its doors in 2015. Two years ago much of its comparatively large adjoining pub car park off Gidlow Lane was sold off for new build flats, leading to speculation the same fate awaited the pub itself.

As an English Heritage Grade II listed building, developers have had to apply for consent from the town hall for the change of use.

It was built in 1902 for the former Magee, Marshall and Co brewery in the striking “Free Renaissance” style, complete with art nouveau stained glass windows and five-sided corner turrets.

Residents will be sent consultation documents, with the town hall expected to have made a decision about the plans by early November.

Last year top bowler Michael Heap, from Spring View, joined a campaign to save the bowling green at the rear of the pub. He credited the senior members of the Gidlow Lane club who helped him when he got into some trouble aged around 17 after falling in with the wrong crowd.

Michael, 31, said: “All those people at The Pagefield kept me interested in the game and kept it going.

“There’s such a lot of tradition there and it will be such a tragedy to lose it.”

Michael says he is concerned for the future of the sport as The Pagefield is far from the only club struggling to keep hold of its venue.

He said: “More and more clubs are shutting and the bowling greens are going too.

“It must be easy to let greens go if they can just shut The Pagefield, which is one of the longest-standing ones in Wigan.”