The Fox & Hounds:
Objections to the Owners’ Planning Application 2023

The Save the Fox and Hounds Campaign’s objections to the latest owners’ Planning Application (23/0192/FUL) were submitted to Stratford District Council and are on their E-planning website.

Here are the reasons we gave for objecting strongly:

1. Loss of a much-loved social hub – our historic, grade 2 listed pub has brought people together in Great Wolford and from neighbouring villages for centuries, engendering a strong sense of community, providing social support, and preventing isolation. There is a social need for this amenity to remain as a pub as clearly demonstrated by the attendance of the Pop-Up Pubs where often the attendance is over 100 supporters. This planning application does not counter this social need. The suggestion that near by B&B accommodation, holiday lets and the village hall in Little Wolford would be ‘alternative provisions for community facilities’ is totally inconceivable. None of these facilities are located in the village. Indeed, a previous Planning Inspectorate Appeal Decision, ref. APP/D3125/W/21/3275882, concluded that a village hall ‘would not be equivalent to the social environment normally provided by a public house’.

2. Conflict with SDC Core Strategy for Great Wolford - the application is contrary to SDC’s Core Strategy Policies CS 25 (Healthy Communities), loss of community facility as the pub is a viable business as concluded by the Morgan and Clarke viability assessment. For reference, this assessment is attached to Parish Council’s objection as statutory consultee. This assessment totally refutes the Everard Cole independent assessment by undertaking very extensive research into the local pub trade. The key conclusions are as follows,

• There is a high demand for food-led pubs in the locality as evidenced by the number of other similar sized pubs in rural villages. This is contrary to the Everard Cole assessment which considers nearby pubs as ruinous competition.

• The assessment considers the pub to be sufficiently large enough to viable when compared to other pubs in the vicinity.

• By completing extensive research into local pub trade, a detail breakdown of potential turnover between dry and wet sales is presented. This turnover concludes the pub is viable when taking into account expenses, cost of mortgage borrowing, salaries etc. The Everard Cole report assumes a turnover figure without any meaningful justification, a figure of £156,280 which is less than the turnover the pub achieved 10 years ago.

• The Morgan and Brown report concludes ‘Often, these cases failed to recognise the pivotal fact that it was not the premises that were inherently unviable, rather it was the business model, or ownership operation that was unviable.’

3. Loss of economic benefits – the pub has provided employment in the village and has brought prosperity to the village as a once thriving destination pub. It generated business for local suppliers and the social networking provided by the pub has proved invaluable for self-employed businesses. Indeed, the previous change of use application was refused partly due to the loss of employment floor space for just the letting accommodation of the pub whereas this application now includes the pub itself. Again, this is contrary to Policy CS 22 (Economic Development). The pub is ideally located to nearby tourist attractions thus providing economic benefit to a wider field and was particularly popular during the Cheltenham festival week.

4. Conflict with SDC’s listing as an Asset of Community Value – the pub is currently listed as an Asset of Community Value which was renewed in Sept 2021 and applies regardless of how long the pub has been closed. Conversion to private residence would remove the option for restoring the pub as our community’s social hub. Several potential buyers have made offers to reopen the pub when marketed back in 2018/19 for £550,000 noting all offers were either in the valuation range of £290,000 to £350,000 or exceeded this range. Indeed, comparable closed pub sales include the Fox Inn, Loxley sold for £280,000 in 2020 and the White Lion Inn, Pailton for £240,000 in 2019. Hence, the option to buy the pub remains if marketed again at a realistic sales price.

5. Strength of opposition to the change of use – 75 objections to the planning application were written by residents of Great Wolford, and more than 200 objections were lodged in total which compares with 235, 185 and 170 objections for previous change of use applications. The support to keep the pub has not diminished at all over the past 7 years.

6. Loss of character – Great Wolford is close to the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; the 17th century pub is an historic grade 2 listed building whose character should be preserved as a part of the designated Conservation Area. Conversion to private residences would fundamentally undermine the character of the building and its surroundings. It is a great sadness to our village to see the pub in its current dilapidated state, suffering from considerable neglect and now an eyesore to an otherwise well-kept village. The application does not qualify the cost to repair the pub fabric and replace the removed commercial kitchen units but merely states the cost of renovations are reasons for change of use. The Morgan and Clarke assessment gives reasonable cost estimates for renovation and repairs based on pub ownership experience. Other pubs now trading, The Lion, Tredington reopened in 2021 after 6 years closure, and The Black Horse, Salford reopened this year under new management.

7. Robust community support for a local pub – villages and neighbours have come together to run ‘Pop up Pub’ events to protect and promote our sense of community, prevent isolation, provide enjoyment for local people, and raise funds for the campaign. These events have been very successful, demonstrating the strength of local support for a local pub.

8. Loss of a once thriving business – letters of support from former successful publicans from the Fox & Hounds confirm that the pub has been run in the past as a viable local business. They prove that professional, dedicated management with promotion and adequate staffing, including full-time chefs, has made the Fox & Hounds a destination pub of fine repute. The claim from the planning statement that ‘… the majority of business for a pub of this nature is local custom. This tends to be mostly walk to trade …’ totally ignores the past trading as a destination pub. The Morgan and Clarke report again concludes ‘that the property's viability is not dependent on the size of the local population. Otherwise, the same would apply to the other successful and viable public houses in the general area. During my visits to the general area, I observed several similar properties that rely on drive-to clientele.’ Again, there are several examples of pubs nearby in the rural locations that do not depend on local custom, the Norman Knight, Whichford and the Fox, Broadwell are two such examples.

Hence, this application fails to meet Policy CS.8 protection of an Area of Conservation, and as concluded, the pub is viable so fails to meet Policy CS.25 and Policy CS.22 protection of an employment site.

For the compelling reasons above, we call on the Council to support the overwhelming wishes of the villagers of Great Wolford and our near neighbours and reject a cynical profit-motivated planning application which would continue to devastate our community, destroy a local business, and permanently eliminate a much loved and strongly supported local pub. This application must be rejected without delay.

You can see the Morgan and Clarke Viability Report referred to above on Stratford E-planning website Application number: 23/01922/FUL. Go to ‘Associated Documents’ and ‘Consultations’ on the menu (bottom left) to view this document and its appendices.