New proposal for Lincolnshire village pub after restaurant plans fall through

Plans have been submitted to turn the Nag’s Head in Bardney into three flats, despite previous hopes it could reopen as a restaurant.

The pub on Abbey Road shut in September 2024 after changing tenants three times in as many years.

The owners had been talking with another potential tenant about converting the building into a restaurant but this has been unsuccessful, according to the planning application.

Authorities are reluctant to change the use for community buildings like pubs unless there is evidence that they cannot survive any longer.

However applicant Schofield Enterprises Ltd argues that the “pattern of occupation and closure” shows there’s no viable future for the pub anymore, with a turbulent few years since the pandemic.

The last long-term tenant left in January 2022, with the next one staying for around 18 months.

Following that it was leased to the previous manager for another year, after which the pub shut and hasn’t reopened.

“As recently as May/June 2026, the owners have been dealing with a prospective tenant looking to run the property as a restaurant,” the documents say.

“They offered a rent-free period of three months to assist with the necessary work, and the same rent as in 2006.

“The prospective tenant felt that the kitchen was too small and the rent too high.

“The applicant’s recent experience demonstrates that the premises may attract short-term interest from prospective operators, but not sustained, viable occupation.

“The recent pattern of occupation and closure is therefore a more reliable indicator of market reality than a further formal marketing exercise, which would be likely to repeat the same cycle without securing a durable village centre use”.

Bardney would still be served by a pub with the nearby Old Angel.

The plans have been submitted to West Lindsey District Council, and will be determined in the future.