HATFIELD & DISTRICT GROUP PARISH COUNCIL
Extra Ordinary Meeting
Minutes of the one hundredth and twenty fourth meeting (Extra Ordinary) of Hatfield & District group Parish Council held on Wednesday 2nd May 2018 at Pudleston Village Hall at 7pm
Present Councillors Robert Hanson (Chair) Tim Brooke; Cecil Price; Eric Griffiths; Adam Lewis
Susan Hanson (Clerk) 61 members of public
The Chairmen welcomed everybody to the meeting.
- Apologies were received from Michael Thomas (Work Commitments)
- Declaration of interest and written applications for dispensations None Received
- FINANCE To pass the following Cheque for payment Herefordshire Council £10.00 copy of plans (459) Pudleston Hall Hire for Extra Ordinary Meeting £9.00 (460)
- PLANNING 181136 Kings Head Docklow. Proposed conversion of the Kings Head pub into two Dwellings and the erection of a pair of semi-detached dwellings
The Kings Head public House had closed on August Bank Holiday Monday 2015. It was an emotive subject with many feeling the centre of the village had been shut. The Chairman invited members of the public to speak. Two ex licensees spoke and said they had been able to run successful businesses at the pub. They confirmed the pub had attracted tourists from local camping, caravans and holiday cottages. As well as passing trade from the A.44 a main trunk road. Locals had used it as a meeting place, an important factor in the sometimes isolated life of a rural community. The pub had been used for Docklow Parish Meet, The Annual Harvest Sale. several Shoots had breakfast and evening meals and the Local Hunt had held breakfast meets there. When the Landlords had first taken over they earned a first-class reputation, the food was excellent and the service good and the pub pleasant and amiable. The pub nowadays looked careworn and unkempt.
The Chair took a rough vote to canvass local opinion All members of public were invited to vote For or Against: 93% were in favour of keeping the Kings Head as a pub and not converting it into houses.
Councillor Hanson proposed considering applying for Listing of a property as an asset of Community Value. Cllr Brooke seconded. All members were in Favour
Information was given on how to comment either for or against on the application, on the Herefordshire Council website.
Parish Council comment
“At an Extra Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council held on Wednesday 2nd May 2018, the views of the local community were sought. More than 60 members of public attended. There was an overwhelming vote of support of retaining the Kings Head as public house for the benefit of the local community.
Two recent ex-licensees of the Kings Head spoke at the meeting and stated in a public forum that they ran successful businesses at the pub, and they believe under new ownership it could be successful once more.
The Kings Head is the only meeting place in Docklow. The overriding sentiment expressed at the meeting was to retain the pub. Its continued closure is causing frustration and unhappiness in the local community.
The marketing details for the pub (deposited with this application) state the asking price was £325,000 later reduced to £295,000. It is the view of the Parish Council that this price is unrealistic for a closed public house and therefore explains why the pub has not attracted a new buyer thus far.
Therefore, we believe that the marketing exercise that is required as specification re Core strategy adapted by Herefordshire Council October 2015 has not been met. Furthermore, it has not been demonstrated that the business is commercially non-viable