WORK to convert Wellington’s former Green Dragon public house into a bar and bistro has caused concern among some local residents and businesses with the removal of a cobbled courtyard.

The pub, in South Street, is expected to reopen shortly, after a £450,000 overhaul by new owners The Chapman Group, based in Hove, near Brighton.

However, the cobbled frontage of the premises has in recent weeks disappeared under cement dust and other debris as builders carry out the conversion work, and a cobbled courtyard has been replaced with paving slabs.

Wellington town Councillor John Thorne said he had asked the new owners why the project was being carried out in such an ‘insensitive’ manner but had yet to receive a response.

Cllr Thorne also raised his concerns with the Deane council’s planning department because the Green Dragon was in Wellington’s town centre conservation area.

However, the planners told him protection of the conservation area only applied to the built environment, and did not cover ground surfaces such as the cobbles.

Cllr Thorne said: “Like a lot of people, I initially thought the Green Dragon must be a listed building as it is one of the oldest remaining public houses in the town, and I was quite surprised to learn that it was not.

“It then seemed obvious that the Deane would be able to help look after the conservation area, bearing in mind that only a few months ago permission was refused for part of a wall to be removed on the very edge of the conservation area, in Eight Acre Lane.

“So it was a great disappointment to be let down by the planners, who said there was nothing they could do except perhaps to rely on an obscure bit of planning legislation which I doubt could actually be applied in this case.

“The cobbles at the Green Dragon must be many generations old, and, certainly along the South Street frontage, they help to define the character of the building.

“It is a real shame that Wellington is losing part of its heritage in this way and that the planning department at the Deane once again cannot protect the town.”