The car park of a Victorian-era East Wickham pub could soon be home to a block of family homes, in an application lodged with the London Borough of Bexley.

Pub management chain Wellington Pub Company submitted the plans for land behind the Foresters Arms last month.

If approved, four three-bedroom homes could be built on a site currently occupied by the public house’s car park.

The plans come after the pub company explored the possibility of including the Forsters Arms itself in the proposal during the pre-application phase.

However, the applicants were told that any plan involving the pub was unlikely to be approved, with the loss of a “community facility…unacceptable in principal”.

The proposal now would see the car park, a shed and a small part of the pub’s outdoor beer garden swallowed up for the development of the two-storey terrace homes.

According to a design and access statement, the Victorian-frontage of the pub is a rarity in the area.

“The pub now sits isolated, free of adjoining houses, one of the

few remaining built fragments of the pre-existing urban grain,” the statement says, while it also confirms the pub would remain under the current proposal.

“The applicant proposes to retain the pub and most of the beer garden

with the new houses proposed on the existing car park.”

A planning statement says the development of the car park would be a positive move for the under-used site.

“The existing public house car park provides a total of 11 spaces; however this is underused, even during peak opening hours,” the planning statement says.

A parking survey completed at the site stated that there was ample parking on surrounding streets to accommodate patrons at the pub if the car park was to be demolished.

As the proposal comprises just residential units, no affordable housing contribution is required – with that stipulation only applying to developments with more than 10 units.