Residents to lobby council as decision is expected on scheme to convert pub (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Residents to lobby council as decision is expected on scheme to convert pub

PLANS submitted by the wife of a millionaire fashion designer to convert a village pub into a private home will be considered by Cotswold District Council next week.

Fiona Davies, who is married to businessman George Davies, the creator of Next and Per Una, is hoping for the go-ahead to convert the Horse & Groom in Bourton-on-the-Hill.

The bid has sparked nearly 50 letters of objection from villagers, many of whom have displayed posters in their windows opposing the scheme.

A statement from the parish council outlined some of the objections to the plan. It read: "The application threatens the survival of this most important village amenity, one of the very few remaining in the community."

The statement also urged members of the council's planning committee, which meets next Wednesday, April 6, to ensure that a full study of the pub's commercial viability is made before any decision is taken.

Former villager Peter Chester, who now lives in Ross-on-Wye, was among those people lobbying the council to protect the pub.

He said: "The application is all too typical of the apparently inexorable trend to deprive rural communities of facilities such as shops and pubs. It is especially sad in the Cotswolds whose economy depends so much upon tourism.

Planning officer Geraldine LeCointe has recommended that councillors refuse the application. "The Horse & Groom public house is the only public house in the village and is one of only two remaining public community facilities within the settlement, the other being the church. The applicant has failed to satisfactorily demonstrate that the public house is not viable as a commercial business."