Village needs a pub say campaigners (From Gazette Series)

Village needs a pub say campaigners

VILLAGERS in Stone are this week campaigning to save their local pub, which closed four years ago, from local developers.

At a public meeting held in the village almost 100 people turned out to protest against developers' plans to turn the Berkeley Vale Hotel into a block of houses.

Penny Wride, chairman of Ham and Stone Parish Council, said the proposed development for the village is doomed to failure.

She said: "We do want a pub. The village is desperate for a licensed facility but we want one that is economically viable and one that isn't surrounded by such high density of houses."

Rochford Property Investors want to convert the Berkeley Vale Hotel, which dates back to Georgian times and has been a landmark in the village for centuries, into two semi-detached houses, construct eight new dwellings and convert an existing outbuilding into a new but smaller pub and restaurant for the village.

However, despite the new plans including a watering hole and eatery, local residents do not believe it will provide a good enough facility for the community.

Jenny Nichols, clerk to the parish council, said residents were concerned the new pub will be too small to survive and will not have enough parking spaces.

She said: "There was a good show of people at the public meeting and they voted through a show of hands that they do not want this development. They want the planning application rejected.

"We have been without a pub since 2002 and the village has tried and failed to get a license.

"Residents think that the old pub has to be reopened for it to be viable for survival."

No one from Bristol-based Rochford Property Investors was available for comment as the Gazette went to press.

The future of the old coaching house is due to be considered by Stroud District Council at a development control committee meeting on Tuesday, February 14.