Swan cannot live off former glories (From Gazette Series)

Swan cannot live off former glories

SIR - In answering the anonymous letter (Gazette, June 4) I would respectfully suggest that my comments were based entirely on correct facts, some of which reported in the Gazette.

I agree that I have not been in Wotton long enough to have seen The Swan as one of the finest hotels and eateries in the district. I have, in fact, lived in Wotton for over 20 years, this would suggest according to the anonymous letter, that The Swan has been on the decline for at least this period of time. However I did, in a previous letter, acknowledge that The Swan was once one of the best hotels and eateries in the district along with the following facts:

<sum> The Swan Hotel had been failing for a period of over 12 years even though the owner has injected £500,000 into the property (fact).

<sum> Over this 12 year period four different tenants have attempted to make a go of The Swan, all have failed (fact).

<sum> Various people have looked at the viability of The Swan as a hotel/restaurant, including large successful chains and all have decided it to be a bad investment (fact).

The property lacks a car park, something essential for a hotel (fact).

<sum> Initial capital investment would be far too high (fact).

<sum> The building will remain boarded up if change of use is not granted (fact).

It seems that the only fact your anonymous writer is basing his argument to keep The Swan as a hotel/restaurant is that it was once, many years ago, a fine hotel and restaurant. Your letter writer concedes that standards have dropped encouraging 'the wrong element' and that rents are high. Is the suggestion that potential new investors should ignore these reasons as a possibility for continued failure as a hotel/restaurant?

It is all very well to say that 'with the right ownership it could be a thriving hotel/restaurant'. This is not a fact but a hopeful wish ignoring the facts of the present. The simple sad fact is that there seems to be nobody willing to take it on as a hotel/restaurant.

I ask this: what is preferable, a boarded up building of no use to anyone or a building offering employment and housing?

It seems unjust to say that the present owner is putting a stop to The Swan continuing. After 12 years of failure, four tenants and investing £500,000 is he not entitled to re-think The Swan's future?

I would dearly love to see The Swan thrive as a hotel/restaurant but unfortunately have to face the facts of the present and not the past.

Carl Rebbeck Wyecliffe Gallery Long Street Wotton-under-Edge