I don't know if this would be of any interest to anyone here but there is a 17th Century Grade II listed pub in a village near us which is currently in grave danger of being unsympathetically converted into a Christian Youth Centre.
The pub is a beautiful ham stone building at the heart of the village community which the heavily indebted Punch Inns put up for sale last March. Within days, despite being a viable going concern turning over more than £5k a week and with several offers on the table, including from the incumbent tenant, the pub was sold to the Martock Christian Fellowship who openly admitted their desire to close it immediately as a pub.
I guess in principal, other than further fragmenting community meeting places, there is nothing wrong with this however it appears there are other issues at stake.
It appears the pub was bought at the scandalously knock down price of £350 000, considerably under its market value as a property let alone as a business, through 'donations' from members of the MTC.
Unfortunately it is unclear what funds they now have to actually do anything with the building. It has stood empty for the past year, despite ripping the cellar, kitchen, historic sign and fittings out. A planning application has now been submitted with apparently little empathy for the history of the building or the implications of listed status. A worrying comment relating to their desire to demolish the 19th century skittle alley from the MTC states that it is not part of the listing! Curtilage listing is clearly no longer applicable! In truth the listing mentions later additions to the rear of the property.
There is much local opposition to these proposals, which include significant alterations and 1/3 demolition of the buildings along with the addition of a glass extension. An action group has been formed and can be viewed at http://www.thegeorgemartock.co.uk/
There are links within the site to the planning applications themselves. The deadline for comments is the 22nd March. If anyone has any opinions I'm sure the action group (of which I'm not involved! But do have lots of good memories of the pub!) would appreciate any support.
It is so sad that so many such pubs are being ripped from the heart of communities across the country!
The pub is a beautiful ham stone building at the heart of the village community which the heavily indebted Punch Inns put up for sale last March. Within days, despite being a viable going concern turning over more than £5k a week and with several offers on the table, including from the incumbent tenant, the pub was sold to the Martock Christian Fellowship who openly admitted their desire to close it immediately as a pub.
I guess in principal, other than further fragmenting community meeting places, there is nothing wrong with this however it appears there are other issues at stake.
It appears the pub was bought at the scandalously knock down price of £350 000, considerably under its market value as a property let alone as a business, through 'donations' from members of the MTC.
Unfortunately it is unclear what funds they now have to actually do anything with the building. It has stood empty for the past year, despite ripping the cellar, kitchen, historic sign and fittings out. A planning application has now been submitted with apparently little empathy for the history of the building or the implications of listed status. A worrying comment relating to their desire to demolish the 19th century skittle alley from the MTC states that it is not part of the listing! Curtilage listing is clearly no longer applicable! In truth the listing mentions later additions to the rear of the property.
There is much local opposition to these proposals, which include significant alterations and 1/3 demolition of the buildings along with the addition of a glass extension. An action group has been formed and can be viewed at http://www.thegeorgemartock.co.uk/
There are links within the site to the planning applications themselves. The deadline for comments is the 22nd March. If anyone has any opinions I'm sure the action group (of which I'm not involved! But do have lots of good memories of the pub!) would appreciate any support.
It is so sad that so many such pubs are being ripped from the heart of communities across the country!