Derelict pub is relisted as asset of community value

A PUB in Crays Pond will continue to be registered as an asset of community value.

The White Lion in Crays Pond in Goring Heath will remain protected until 2029.

Its previous registration, which was granted in 2019, had expired and a new application was made by the Crays Pond Community Group.

The group has been campaigning to have the pub re-opened rather than being turned into a home since it was bought in 2013.

Satwinder Sandhu, who owns the former Greene King pub, cannot sell the property until the community has been given six months to make an offer, which does not have to be accepted.

When Mr Sandhu bought the pub he was living there unlawfully until he was ordered out by the High Court in 2019.

The campaigners were then successful in their application to South Oxfordshire District Council to make the pub an asset of community value. Mr Sandhu challenged this, but his appeal was rejected by the council.

When the pub became derelict in June 2021 and travellers moved into the site, Mr Sandhu announced he was putting the pub up for sale.

The community group then became a community interest company so it could make an offer.

Three bids have been submitted by the group since 2021 and around £200,000 has been pledged by the community to buy the pub through grant funding, loans, donations and the community buying shares.

John Denson, 72, of Crays Pond who is an administrator and shareholder at the group, said: “We are feeling confident since it has passed. We can hold on to it for another five years but times might change.”

If the owner will not offer the property for sale to the group, they can press the council to obtain the property without the consent of the owner through a compulsory purchase order.

This enables the community to pay a realistic price for the property to the council, but they will have to cover their legal fees.