'Save the Winterbourne Arms'

Villagers try to save their 'local' from developers

A CAMPAIGN is under way to save another West Berkshire pub from developers.

This time it’s the Winterbourne Arms in Winterbourne, which is the subject of a planning application to convert it into a home.

A design and access statement prepared on behalf of applicant Nicholas Roffe states: “The Winterbourne Arms is no longer viable as a business so is now permanently closed.”

But villagers are fighting to save their local.

One of them, Jill Hamblin, said the Winterbourne Parish Plan contains an objective to “ensure the village continues to have a working public house”.

She added: “When the previous owner, Jan Steel, decided to sell the Winterbourne Arms she ... assured villagers that she was selling the pub as an ongoing business.

“After the sale to Nicholas Roffe was completed she assured several villagers that the new owner was planning to continue to run the Winterbourne Arms as a pub.”

However, according to campaigners, at a meeting of Winterbourne Parish Council last November, Mr Roffe explained that due to the physical condition of the pub and following examination of its bookings, he had decided not to reopen it.

Ms Hamblin said: “The pub has not been opened since the purchase, so we dispute the claim that it cannot be run profitably.

“I have had access to the trading accounts of the past two publicans and they clearly show that the pub can be run as a successful business.

“It has done so for decades.”

The campaign group also disputes any assertion that there are too many pubs in the area to make the business viable.

Ms Hamblin said: “The Blackbird in Bagnor and The Crab and Boar in Chieveley have changed to restaurants and can no longer be characterised as traditional rural pubs.

“What we need is local pub with a family-friendly environment.

“A number of pubs in the area have recently changed hands with no negative effect on the business.

“There is no reason why the same would not apply to the Winterbourne Arms.

“A survey of comments on the pub left on TripAdvisor over the past two years clearly underlines this point.”

The application can be viewed in full and commented on by visiting the planning section of the West Berkshire Council website and using the reference code 19/00346/FULD.