The site of a former pub in Slough which has been dormant for years is finally set for development.

The Merrymakers pub in Meadow Road, Langley has been closed since July 2016.

The pub was a neighbourhood hub, where people enjoyed real ales, alcoholic drinks and live sports on a big screen TV.

In an image from 2014, it was decked out with the England flags, presumably during the football World Cup held in Brazil that year.

The whole site, which included an attached community association building and a row of bungalows has been sealed off years, with Merrymakers being demolished on January 8, 2017.

Within two years all of the buildings on the site were demolished.

It was originally envisaged that the pub would be replaced by a health and community hub.

If that plan had went ahead, a GP Surgery, pharmacy, homes and community spaces would have been provided on the site.

Although the project was approved, in 2020, the council’s chosen developers, had withdrawn because of “financial pressures caused by COVID-19″.

Eventually, designs for the site were changed, with it being sold off to developer Elstree Land in November last year.

Now, the site will provide 33 apartments and 20 terraced houses.

Once complete, the development will be made up of 21 two-bed and 12 one-bed flats, and 15 three-bed and five two-bed terraced homes.

The owner of Elstree Land has announced his intentions to make the development 100 per cent affordable.

Daniel Bradbury said: “This site has been vacant for a number of years, and we look forward to working with Slough to deliver a high quality residential scheme which will assist in uplifting and revitalising the area.

“Within these 53 homes, more than 30 percent of them will be Affordable Homes that will be delivered to the Future Homes Building Standard ensuring they are at the cutting edge of sustainability.

“But we don’t want to stop at 30 percent. My vision is to work with Homes England and Abri to bring 100 percent of the properties forward as affordable, providing future residents with an excellent balance of new homes, at a reasonable cost, close to local amenities which work for a variety of residents.”

So far, 30 per cent of the homes have been designated affordable, of which 10 will be provided at Slough affordable rent levels, three will be provided at regular affordable rent levels, and three three-bedroom homes will be designated as shared ownership.

The project was approved by the council’s planning department on Wednesday, April 10.

You can view the approved project by typing reference P/01615/007 into the council’s planning portal.

Commenting on the absence of community facilities in the approved project, deputy leader councillor Wal Chahal (Conservative, Langley Marish) said:  “We had been keen for this to be developed as a medical facility for Langley residents; and we have been engaging with stakeholders such as the NHS to explore this possibility; there was however no appetite for that at this time.”