Former Great Bourton village pub 'The Bell Inn' saved from house conversion

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Former village pub saved from house conversion

[Image from here is not available to guests]
The Bell Inn - as it stood in 2023 - was sold by Hook Norton Brewery in 2024

An appeal against rejected plans to convert a village pub into a family home has been dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate.

Cherwell District Council rejected plans by the current owner James Day to convert the former Bell Inn, in Great Bourton near Banbury, last May.

Hook Norton Brewery sold the pub to its current owner in May 2024 and said that it was no longer commercially viable to keep it open.

James Day subsequently launched an appeal against the council's verdict on his plans, which was objected to by dozens of locals after more than 230 came out against the initial plans and launched the 'Save The Bell Inn' campaign.

In his appeal letter, Day said his proposals were fully justified, and that the reopening of the pub was not financially viable. He also argued that the loss of a community facility would not cause significant economic or social harm to the north Oxfordshire village.

In a letter calling for the planning inspector to reject the appeal, Cherwell District Council previously wrote that Mr Day had "failed to satisfactorily demonstrate that the existing use could not be viable".

"The council considers that the public house has been an asset in the past and has potential to be an asset in the future," it added. Day's appeal was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate on Monday following a hearing in January.

In his decision letter inspector Lewis Condé said: "Although patronage may have declined prior to its closure, this does not in my view, diminish its social importance; it is also likely that falling visitor numbers were significantly influenced by the way the pub was managed at that time. Although the future viability of a public house will inevitably depend on factors such as purchase price, available finance and the extent of any borrowing, the evidence before me does not sufficiently demonstrate that a community-run enterprise would be unviable."

Hook Norton Brewery has been approached for comment.

Councillor Chris Brant, who represents Great Bourton on both the district and county council, said the decision is "fantastic" and "sends a strong message about the value of those spaces in rural life". He added: "This is a huge credit to the Save the Bell Inn Action Group and the many local residents who worked tirelessly to demonstrate just how important this pub is to the community. Their commitment, research, and determination showed that there is real local support and a viable future for the pub. I also want to recognise the excellent work of Cherwell District Council's planning team, who robustly defended the council's decision and the policies that protect vital village services like pubs.

A declaration of interest here - or, rather, to state that I have no personal interest in this topic: I have never visited that pub, or Great Bourton.

My perhaps slightly cynical outsider's view is that, if that pub was such a 'valuable community asset', why didn't more of the 'Action Group' members patronise it, before Hook Norton Brewery looked at their figures and decided, for clearly practical business reasons, that it was 'commercially unviable'?

If I ever find myself in Great Bourton, I will be delighted to visit The Bell Inn and buy a couple of pints of Hook Norton's excellent ales there.

[ChrisB]

That's my local - about 30 yards from my front door.

Until the pandemic, it was being patronised well. The two that were running it decided to return to their origin in South Africa at the start of the pandemic. Hook Norton both increased the rent & charges for their beer and couldn't find another manager...so we got a series of temps that had no interest in generating a warm welcome as the pandemic came to an end, and the pub remained empty for a year.

Hook Norton then put in on the market at a silly price, and of course no takers. Then Mr Day came along & the next thing we knew they had sold it to him & we thought "Great, he'll open it back up without a tie to Hook Norton & we'll all enjoy a pint"

Uh-oh. Next thing we knew is that he started to strip it out & eventually the council intervened & requested a change of use planning application which he duly put in to change it to "Church View", a dwelling.

Turned out that Mr Day had a habit of doing this elsewhere in the country - buy it as a pub for a figure; do it up to a residence & flog it as a dwelling. Turns out he'd never encountered a village that wanted a pub....

We think we have an investor that wants to buy it as the pub. So he needs to be persuaded to sell it. He won't sell it as a dwelling now; so we bide our time. He won't get his money back on the conversion either, but that's his fault!

[Mark A]

Use of a building as a public house: it's something that without safeguards in place, is vulnerable, and it's not only the 'Use it or lose it' that applies.
 
Mark

[broadgage]

I would support a cut in the government duty on draught beer and cider served in pubs.
Beer sold from large returnable re-useable containers is generally accepted as being greener than cans or bottles.

Any such reduction in duty would have to be carefully worded so as to avoid loopholes.

[broadgage]

Use of a building as a public house: it's something that without safeguards in place, is vulnerable, and it's not only the 'Use it or lose it' that applies.
 
Mark

At a time of falling demand for drinking in pubs, we cant fight to save them all. Official protection, whether via the planning system or otherwise should be confined to;
Pubs of historical importance.
Pubs that are the only one within walking distance.
Possibly pubs that are one of only two in walking distance.
Pubs that double as a shop or other facility.

[Chris from Nailsea]

That's my local - about 30 yards from my front door.

Thank you for posting, ChrisB - I honestly had no idea that I was actually featuring your 'local' when I started this particular topic.

At a time of falling demand for drinking in pubs, we can't fight to save them all.

Agreed. In Nailsea, a town of some 20,000 residents, we still have several active pubs, located around the area. There is a Wetherspoons in the town centre, and traditional pubs distributed elsewhere in each compass direction.

The only pub we lost was the locally historic Friendship Inn, which was closed as being 'commercially unviable', and the whole site was redeveloped as (rather cramped) residential housing.  Being brutally honest, their location, while 'on the High Street' was just on the wrong side of the High Street, lacked parking areas and was opposite another pub which is on the modern thoroughfare and has parking.