A BATTLE to save a much-loved former pub in Wotton-under-Edge rages on after proposals to knock it down and replace it with homes were deferred.

A proposed development of 11 homes on the site of the The Full Moon pub in Synwell, Wotton, was deferred by Stroud District Council’s development control committee on Tuesday, August 11.

Many in the community want to see the pub, a registered asset of community value, reopened and back to its best, with campaigners saying the district council’s deferral offered “a light at the end of the tunnel”.

The proposal by Woodbourne Homes Ltd is the most recent to be faced with trouble when going before the district council.

Stroud District Cllr for Wotton Ken Tucker delivered an impassioned speech in objection to the planning application to the development control committee.

“Wottonians are extremely passionate about both their community and their environment. They are, however, very supportive of new housing, particularly the provision of affordable homes.

“But not at a price that has recently blighted Potters Pond and the prostitution of the once wonderful Cotswold escarpment approaching from the south into Wotton, with the ghastly Butlin’s holiday chalet look-a-like buildings adjacent to the doctor’s surgery.

“On behalf of my electorate, I request the application is rejected for further and proper consideration and consultation of the viability of the community asset.”

Following a discussion councillors came to conclude that reopening The Full Moon as a pub was still viable and decided to defer the application.

Those fighting the application saw hope in the deferral, but criticised Stroud District Council’s handling of the case.

A recent statement issued to the Gazette by the Synwell Community Action Group, a group fighting to protect the pub, said: “it is clear from the start that Stroud District Council’s planning department officers have not given sufficient weighting and procedural guidance - as required under the Localism Act of 2011 – to the community’s previous successful application of registering The Full Moon as an asset of community value.”

A spokesman for the council said: “We are currently helping the action group by acting as liaison between them and the landowner to help secure the future of the pub.”

The Full Moon closed in August 2013 after more than 150 years of serving the Synwell community.

At the time of its closure a number of local organisations and pub games teams still made frequent use of the establishment.

The battle to save the pub has been ongoing since the closure. Previous plans to develop homes on the site were halted by the campaigners.