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Villagers win time to buy pub after demolition plans withdrawn
Turves residents ‘serious about buying pub’
An application to demolish a country pub and replace it with five houses has been pulled on the eve of it going before Fenland District Council planning committee. It means a window of opportunity for a community group hoping to raise the support – and cash – needed to buy it and keep it open.
Agents acting for the owner of the Three Horseshoes, Turves, near Whittlesey, have instructed the council to withdraw the application ahead of Wednesday’s planning committee.
The committee was being recommended to refuse the application by publican Tim Fletcher.
Planning officers felt that Mr Fletcher had produced some evidence regarding the financial viability of the pub and its active marketing as a going concern, necessary when related to the loss of a community facility.
“However, this evidence fails to adequately demonstrate that the pub is no longer financially viable, and is silent on the matter regarding community need,” they concluded.
Turves and District Residents Association is campaigning to raise funds to buy the pub. PHOTO: Terry Harris
“In addition, The Three Horseshoes has recently been designated by the council as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), owing to the fact that the pub is one of a very limited number of facilities available within Turves.
“An independent residents’ group have made significant progress in pursuing their right to bid for the pub under the ACV process.
“Accordingly, this designation and progress forms a material consideration of significant weight in favour of retaining the pub for the community, which is not outweighed by the benefit of the provision of market dwellings as proposed.”
In a social media post today, Turves and District Residents Association which is campaigning to raise funds to buy the pub, wrote: “Just had a notification to say the planning application has been withdrawn, although as the address is a bit vague, we have written to the council for confirmation that it is actually the demolition of the building, so will no longer be discussed at the meeting on Wednesday.
“This means we as a group can get on with the grant applications and other fund raising.
“We are serious about buying the pub, doing the renovations to save it and set up the community hub as planned.”
“This will give Mel and Tim money to secure Mel’s future and keep the asset available for the village, surrounding areas and visitors use.
“Now we need as much support as possible to make this happen.
“The longer the building is unused the more chance there is of something bad happening to it and further neglect.
Whittlesey Town Council had also recommended refusal until additional marketing has been carried out.
Fenland Council says it has received 58 letters of objection, 23 from addresses within Turves, 11 from within Whittlesey and Coates and 9 from with March, including Manea and Wimblington.
However, the report says the application has received 31 letters of support, 15 from addresses within Turves, including the applicant, 8 from within Whittlesey, including Coates and Eastrea, and others include one from an address in Barnsley.
Planners say they understand the Turves and District Residents Association (TDRA) has made “significant progress in pursuing their right to bid for the pub, with their intention to retain it as a community facility for the village”.
Their progress so far has included:
- The successful application for ACV.
- A successful grant application for primary funding.
- An independent survey and valuation of the pub; and
- An open community meeting with survey conducted on what community facility residents wish to see for the space going forward.
“As such, it is evident that TDRA have legitimate interest in progressing a bid for the pub and are seeking to make this a true community facility for residents of Turves,” says the report.
“Thus, the ACV status of the pub and the progress made on the attempts of TDRA to retain this building as a community facility is a material planning consideration that should be given significant weight and establishes that there is an apparent need for the community facility to be retained.
“It could therefore be reasonably argued that it would be premature to conclude that there is no community need for this facility”
The report also says that according to the recent Survey of Fenland Settlements Existing Services and Facilities that was undertaken to inform the Emerging Local Plan, “it is understood that the village of Turves has only three designated community facilities, including, a mobile library, a non-food store, and the pub, to serve around 400 residents (population estimated mid 2018).
“The population is therefore dependent upon larger surrounding settlements for wider services and community facilities.
“Given this limited number of existing facilities, the loss of the pub as a community facility would have a significant detrimental impact on the offerings within the village, and potentially the wellbeing of its residents”.
