Planning Officers Recommended Calling Time on Village Pub

Published on: 16 Aug, 2024
Updated on: 16 Aug, 2024

The Villager Pub in Blackheath

By Chris Caulfield

local democracy reporter

The long battle over the future of a historic pub in a picturesque Surrey Hills village, which sits empty, continues.

Angela Richardson, when she was the Conservative MP for Guildford, threw her weight behind campaigners fighting to preserve The Villager pub as a community hub, opposing plans to merge into the adjoining residential property. Planners at Waverley Borough Council, however, have called time on the pub and recommended the proposals.

Former MP Angela Richardson

The owner of the pub in Blackheath, south of Guildford, has applied to change the watering hole into a residential property and merge it with the adjoining house in the hope of drawing a close on the decade-old planning saga.

The application says the pub, which originally closed in 2011 and later split into homes and a smaller drinking venue, has failed to find a buyer in all that time and, rather than maintain an empty site, would allow the venue to be converted into a family home.

Officers, in recommending approval, said they were conscious of the public’s and councillors’ perception over the community’s efforts to keep open a prized asset but over 13 years had since passed and there had been very limited evidence to suggest they would be successful in purchasing the site or that a licensed operator would take it on.

But campaign groups, including residents and real ale aficionados, backed by Angela Richardson, disagree. They said attempts to take over the site have been made needlessly complex over the years, decreasing the likelihood of finding a buyer.

They also say that turning the venue into a small community hub for people living there as well as for walkers, cyclists and tourists visiting the village would prove a hit.

The Blackheath Village Society has succeeded thus far in protecting the site by turning it into an asset of community value in 2013 and reinstating it in November 2020. This flags it as being a venue known to be important to the local community.

Writing to Waverley Borough Council’s planning department, Angela Richardson said: “This building has been recognised as an Asset of Community Value and I recognise the importance of pubs and community hubs within a local area. The residents of Blackheath are determined to reopen this building as a community hub with a fully licensed pub and café.

“Within this area it is the small businesses which thrive and despite concerns that they are not viable, I believe that it is important to retain local community services which bring residents and the wider community together. I strongly believe that this building will be of greater value to the local residents if it is offered to the community instead of being approved for residential use.”

But a viability study suggests a pub would struggle to make money, and that anyone interested in taking over the site have had ample opportunity to come forward. In 2017, the pub obtained planning permission to be divided into two dwellings and a small pub, supporting what planning documents said but this has “actually created an unviable business”.

The Surrey Hants Borders Branch of CAMRA – the Campaign for Real Ale – disagree with the study. Its chair said: “The key flaw in their assessment is that it is based on an operating model of a large food-led gastro or family pub….The community based pub is a very different approach and far more likely to be successful. Indeed, I am aware that the Blackheath Village Society has developed a detailed business plan that clearly demonstrates how this could be a viable business.”

The plans have also been opposed by Wonersh Parish Council, which said community hubs “are popular and successful” in other areas. They said: “The Blackheath area attracts walkers, cyclists and other visitors using a range of transport modes and there is the infrastructure to support this, including parking where needed. These visitors would benefit from the proposed facilities, as would local residents, hence its designation as an Asset of Community Value.”

The matter will be decided on Wednesday, August 21.