‘Pubs are not playthings, for the wealthy,’ says MP

these plans, saying the proposed development do not conform to South Oxfordshire District Council’s adopted local plan.

Parish clerk Pat Pearce, who was also at the protest, said it was “inexplicable” how long the district council, the planning authority, has taken to make a decision.

In February, Brand lost a bid for partial retrospective planning permission to convert the first floors of the pub into offices and the barn next door to be used for “community-based purposes” with “a food and drink outlet” and stables.

More than 50 residents objected to the plans over fears of losing an “essential” amenity and the district council agreed and refused permission.

Lord Camoys, of Stonor Park, has now written to the district council saying a Grampian condition should be included for the pub to be brought back into use.

He wrote: “Public places such as pubs serve an essential community role in rural areas and the growing loss of them in the area is having a detrimental effect on the community. This is a very carefully constructed planning application. Motives in the end are irrelevant in planning.

“What matters is what gets done. But, given the absence of any reference to the continued function of the pub in any of the application material, it would not be unreasonable to infer that the applicant has no intention of operating the pub.

This is reinforced by the previous application which sought change of use so the pub would no longer function, which was rightly refused by the council for a number of reasons. It is entirely possible, therefore, that both the pub, and the proposed office etc uses, can exist side by side.

“The difficulty, of course, is that the pub has been closed for a number of years and, returning to motives, there is nothing in any of the material to suggest any intention on the part of the landowner to bring the pub back into use as a pub.

“Planning therefore needs to fulfil one of its core roles, to intervene in the market to ensure that the community use on the site is brought back into use.

“Any permission therefore needs to include a condition requiring that the pub is marketed and let on such terms as would facilitate its long-term use as a public house, or similar, prior to the occupation of any of the office or other uses which the application is seeking.

“Indeed, in different circumstances, the office and related uses might have been claimed by an applicant as enabling development to provide suitable cross subsidy to ensure the pub use has a viable future. In such circumstances it would be expected that any planning permission would contain a Grampian condition as suggested above.

“The fact that the applicant is not claiming the development to be enabling does not change the legitimacy of such a condition, because the proposals leave the pub use on the site and the description of development makes explicit reference to a pub. The applicant cannot therefore reasonably object to such a condition.

“Without a Grampian condition or conditions along these lines that require the pub to be brought back into use, the application must be refused.”

Henley MP Freddie van Mierlo has also said that the Crown should be re-opened as a pub. He said: “I have consistently opposed this development. Pubs are not the playthings of the welathy, they are the heart of rural communities like Pishill and Stonor and they should be protected and cherished.

“The Liberal Democrats are bringing forward a motion to the district council to strengthen policies that support pubs to become assets of community value and calling for tax relief.

“In parliament, I have also signed a letter to the Chancellor urging for greater protections and I have spoken to local pub owners to discuss challenges facing the hospitality industry.”

The council considered the motion at a meeting yesterday (Thursday) which said: “The council will use all its available powers, where appropriate, to support communities in their efforts to retain pubs,” especially when there has been a “submission of a nomination as an asset of community value or opposition to a planning application for change of use.”

The district council is due to make a final decision on the planning application today (Friday).

A spokeswoman at the district council said: “The council’s planning enforcement team is aware of the case and will await the outcome of this application before considering any action if required. We expect to make a decision on the application shortly.”