Village pub being turned into veterinary surgery

WORK on a new veterinary surgery near Sonning Common has finally begun.

Sarah Moffat bought the former Reformation pub in Horsepond Road, Gallowstree Common, last year with the aim of converting it into a clinic for cats and dogs called Cherry Orchard Vets.

Pub company Brakspear, which owns the site, has been granted planning permission for change of use and to build two new houses on either side of the pub, which closed in August 2020.

Mrs Moffat, who lives in Kennylands Road, Sonning Common, said that buying the building from Brakspear took her longer than expected but she hopes to open the clinic in the spring.

She said: “We are so excited to now have the building and to move forward.”

The work will take place in two stages, beginning with converting the interior.

Mrs Moffat, who has been a vet for more than 20 years, plans to put in two consultation rooms, an open reception area with separate sections for cats and dogs, a theatre, dental and X-ray rooms, dog and cat wards, a staff room and an office. She has planning permission to build an extension at the back of the building in case she needs more space.

Construction workers have started working on the building, taking out the bar, kitchen equipment, tiles and the fake beams installed in the pub in order to raise the ceiling for the reception area.

One chimney is to be taken out and the building stripped down in order to replumb and wire it. New windows are to be installed to replace the wooden ones, which are rotting.

Outside, overgrown bushes have been trimmed back.

Mrs Moffat had been looking for a place of her own to have a practice for more than six years.

For the past year, she has been doing locum work for other veterinary practices and covering shifts at an independent practice in Wokingham.

She has also been meeting with other people in the veterinary profession to help her prepare to run her own surgery.

She plans to hire five staff to begin with, including another vet and reception and administrative staff. She says a veterinary clinic will be a valuable asset to the community.

Mrs Moffat said: “There are very few vet practices around. In Henley you have a practice and there’s one in Caversham and a branch in Sonning Common, then further afield.

“There are not many commercial properties available to use as a vets with car parking.

“The fact the building was available for commercial use already was hugely important and it is good that we will be able to have a nice car park outside the building.

“Lots of people travel along the road so it’s great visibility too.

“I have spent 18 years in Sonning Common. We have a lovely community and to bring in an independent vet to this area, rather than vets bought by corporate entities, has a really positive feel.

“I have been a vet for more than 20 years and I am really passionate about it. Part of my love is getting to know my clients and their pets, from puppies and kittens right through to adults. That’s really important for me.”

Mrs Moffat lives with her husband Ian Hasler, a former police officer, and their six-year-old son, Henry, who attends Sonning Common Primary School. She owns two Labradors, four chickens, a retired horse and two cats.

She grew up in Wargrave and attended the Piggott School in the village before going to Cambridge University, graduating in 2002.

She worked for Active Vet Care in Oakley Road, Caversham Heights, for five years and was clinical director when it became Oakley Veterinary Clinic before leaving in 2016 to work freelance and work on starting her own practice.

In 2018 she tried to buy MS Vets in Green Lane, Sonning Common, but was outbid and it is now Sonning Common Vets.

She contacted Brakspear when she saw the Reformation advertised and they submitted a planning application together.

Kidmore End Parish Council tried several times to have the pub listed as an asset of community value but failed due to a lack of evidence about social events taking place there.

Some villagers were upset at the loss of the pub and the prospect of new housing.

Mrs Moffat said: “I appreciate the community is sad to lose a pub but when they did the viability report they found 39 other pubs within the vicinity.”