The Hare and Hounds Inn

News and Updates

The clock is ticking!

The Change of Use application to legally allow the Hare and Hounds Inn to be developed into a residential property is STILL LIVE!

Whilst the official deadline has passed, the portal appears to still be open for objections.

Please add your objection before it’s too late!

You can see the Change of Use application and make an objection here

Here you can read WACA’s Objection against Change of Use.

WACA has commissioned a report from Nimble Planning and Development Consultants to support our objection to the Change of Use application. You can read it here.

What Next?

Please sign our petition by clicking the link here

Thank you

Here is our Hare and Hounds FAQ doc. It includes updates on our research and detailed guidance on how to make your own comments to CMBC.

Using Calderdale’s Planning Policy, we believe we have a very strong set of arguments objecting to the Change of Use application submitted for the Hare and Hounds Inn.

These are the elements from CMBC Planning Policy HW4 that we will be quoting. You can find details in our Hare and Hounds Inn FAQs doc mentioned above.

And you may want to reference them in your own objections:

  • There is no appropriate alternative to the Hare and Hounds Inn.
  • The pub is required – for a wide variety of social and local economic reasons.
  • The pub would be viable with a different model.
  • All reasonable efforts have not been made to retain the facility, including the possibility of community ownership.

Every individual response really does count, so please do consider commenting to Calderdale Planning Department yourself. Here is the link to the Planning Portal.

And encourage friends and neighbours to do the same.

Please do NOT send your objections to us, as they need to be registered with Calderdale. But if you have any problems please do contact us at info@WACACoop.org.uk and we’ll try to help in any way we can.

If you can’t, or don’t want to, respond online, you can:

  • Email Local Councillor Israr Ahmed, at Councillor.IAhmed@calderdale.gov.uk
  • Write to Israr, addressing your objection to: Councillor I Ahmed, c/o Halifax Town Hall, Crossley Street, Halifax. HX1 1UJ

Although the deadline has passd the portal is still open for comments. There is no appeal process against a successful Change of Use application, so this will be our only chance to SAVE OUR PUB.

Please join our mailing list on our Contact page if you would like regular updates

The Hare and Hounds Inn, the Story so Far……

When we heard the Hare and Hounds at Lane Ends was for sale back in July, the WACA Board agreed we should investigate the risk of the pub and B&B ceasing to be a going concern, so we met with the agent who showed us around.

At the time, we had been reassured that it was very likely that the pub would be sold as a going concern, but we are now aware that it has been sold, and a Change of Use application has been submitted to Calderdale Council Planning Department. We’ve set up an initial consultation to guage support in WACA challenging this (you can still respond here if you’ve not already done so), and have received very positive feedback in the vast majority of responses. As a result, at the end of 2025, we submitted a Community Right to Bid application to register the Hare and Hounds Inn as an Asset of Community Value, as an initial statement of intent to challenge any Change of Use applications.

As of Tuesday 13th January the Change of Use applciation has gone live and appears here on the Calderdale Planning Portal. So now the clock is ticking, with a deadline for objections of Tuesday 3rd February.

Following more than 315 responses to our online survey, with an overwhelming 98.4% support for WACA to take action, we have been researching and collating evidence. We believe we can make a very powerful objection to the Change of Use application, evidencing what we already know – that the Hare and Hounds Inn would, indeed, make a viable and successful community pub. 

Thanks to all who attended out public meetings.

About 140 people in total attended, which shows great local support for our fight to save the Hare and Hounds Inn.

At the top of this page you can see the notes distributed and our suggestions for what we can do next.

Please join our mailing list on our Contact page if you would like regular updates.

If you’d like to get more involved or have suggestions for WACA to follow up please get in touch by email to info@WACAcoop.org.uk