Council Approves Village Pub Conversion

Published on: 23 Aug, 2024
Updated on: 27 Aug, 2024

The Villagers Pub in Blackheath, as it was.

By Chris Caulfield

local democracy reporter

Campaigners have vowed to continue fighting to save a 100-year-old Surrey Hills pub from being turned into housing despite planners agreeing the valued community asset can be converted.

Waverley Borough Council’s Planning Committee approved the change of use plans for the Villagers Pub in Blackheath, calling time on a saga that has stretched on for more than a decade.

The pub shut in 2011 and was converted into two homes with planning conditions calling for space kept as a public house.

Despite this, the pub has never reopened, and was later sold on in a private transaction – preventing the community from bidding the meeting heard,

The plan to rejoin the vacant pub to the adjoining home was approved despite calls from MPs, beer associations, town councils, and residents to save the valued community asset

Planners, who recommended the change be approved, said there was “no substantive evidence to suggest [a pub] would be a success” as it not only lacked parking, but also transport. Additionally there were 10 alternative sites within 1.8miles that could fulfil the same role.

The pub had also been marketed for sale for the past six years without success.

The Wednesday, August 21 meeting was told the campaigners intend to challenge the decision through the courts.

Mr Williams, speaking on behalf of the Blackheath Village Association challenged this.

He said: “It is said that the village has no continuing need tor the proposed community pub, well the 90 odd residents who I represent clearly disagree with the conclusion.

He added: “Saying a community pub can not be viable, gives no consideration to the detailed business plan submitted by the society – the pub won’t just be viable but successful.

“It has always been maintained that the village is prepared to buy at a figure that reflected its value as licensed premises.”

He told the meeting that the community had made several offers to buy the pub based on its value as a licensed venue rather than as housing – but they were rejected.

He said: “It’s clear the applicant would only consider selling at the price of residential premises which makes one wonder as to the purpose of this application.”

“The applicant bought the premises knowing that it was subject to a condition that it be fitted out as a pub within a specified period and presumably at a price that reflected that restriction.

“However no attempt has been made to fit it out as a pub.”

“It is a matter of the greatest concern to residents that no attempt has been made by the council for over four years to enforce compliance with that condition.

“If this application is successful the applicant will, having chosen to ignore planning restrictions and gained premises of substantially higher value.

“The choice is between public good and private gain and the local community is relying on you to do the right thing.”

Cllr Jane Austin

Cllr Jane Austin (Con, Bramley & Wonersh), leader of the Conservative opposition at WBC, via a written statement, said the ward councillors urged the committee to refuse or at least adjourn the decision..

She said: “Residents are angry that Waverley Borough Council has not enforced planning conditions for years and that it has been traded privately which prevented the community from bidding on the property.

Owner Ben Moore said that steps have been made over the years to assess the pub’s viability with four separate and independent reports into the remaining space all saying a pub wouldn’t work due to its small size and narrow shape.

He also challenged the true strength and depth of support for the pub.

Turnover he said would struggle to pass the £200,000 a year mark – below the minimum a pub typically needs

He added: ”The level of support within the community has been consistently overrated.

“The pub association have consistently and very publicly claimed to have the support of 70, 80 and sometimes even 90 per cent of the Blackheath community.”

He said those figures were based on a 2016 petition taken during the village fair.

“Of the 191 households that expressed support to retain the pub only eight actually resided in the village, only eight.

“That’s four per cent of the Blackheath households.”

Extending the base to the surrounding villages reduced this number to 2.5 per cent, he added.

Mr Moore said: “It would appear that the majority of the village and the surrounding communities either don’t want a pub or don’t care about a pub.

“Either way to claim to represent the majority of the community is a misleading fallacy.”

Councillors voted eight to two in support of the plan to change the use from a public house to residential in order to create a one single dwelling with existing semi-detached home.