Rows over village pub’s future

Those behind a bid to purchase and save a village pub are vowing to continue the fight.

The Chequers in Gedney Dyke was listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) in 2018 following a campaign, but it’s subject to another planning permission to turn it into two homes.

The ACV lasts for five years and means that before the pub is sold, the community has six months to put a bid in and take it over.

A group of villagers pulled together as part of the Save The Chequers campaign group to do just that after being served notice this was a possibility.

The group says it had the pub independently valued but the bid was described as ‘derisory’ in planning applications submitted by owner Gareth Franklin to turn the pub into two homes and which includes a request to South Holland District Council the ACV be revoked.

Those behind the bid say they were given no time to respond with a new offer following the refusal.

The Save The Chequers campaign group is also angry that the parish council has supported the planning application for the pub, which was last open in 2017.

A spokesman for the group said that they believed the pub could be viable stating that it was previously not viable due to an attempt to attract a high end market and reducing the opening hours to just three days a week.

The spokesman said that villagers were “appalled” at the application and that there hadn’t been more publicity, particularly from the parish council.

“Many feel the parish council has over-stepped the mark and its actions are undemocratic and the parish has failed in its civic duty to represent the represent the majority villagers in respect to this new attempt by the owner to develop the Chequers public house,” the spokesman said.

The parish council says that the issues surrounding the application were discussed at one of its monthly meetings which can be attended by the public.

The application came in after the publication of the latest meeting’s agenda, parish clerk Jane Ripley told The Voice.

“The council look at each application that comes in on its own merits,” she said.

The documents with the application state: “While the council clearly determined in July 2018 that Chequers did fulfil the requirements of being an Asset of Community Value, it is considered that the change in circumstances since and the evidence that there is really no realistic prospect of Chequers being used again as a viable pub or other building which would further the social wellbeing or social interests of the community, that the listing should be revisited by the council.

“The pub has been closed for over two years and was trading at a loss for the proceeding ten years. There is no realistic market interest in the site.”