A use them or lose them warning has been sent to South Holland residents over pubs after permission was given to demolish a historic establishment the village of Saracen’s Head was founded around.
The family that owns the New Saracen’s Head has been told it can demolished and replaced by ‘residential dwelling’, the details of which would need to be finalised by another planning application.
South Holland District Council’s Planning Committee heard that the pub dates back hundreds of years and the village formed around it when it was a popular stop-off along the old route of what is now the A17.
The report by planning officers to Wednesday’s (November 10) committee meeting recommending the application be passed said objections had been received from ‘local residents and the surrounding area’ but did not say how many.
Whaplode Parish Council objected saying: “We are concerned that this historic site originally the reason for this village being founded could be lost if the application is approved.
“A transfer to a community asset is preferable, If no such proposal is forthcoming then the application should be favourably considered.”
Planning officer Richard Fidler told the committee: “The family have been running the pub for getting on for 30-years and the last few years even pre-covid they struggled and only made modest profits on the basis they staffed it themselves and didn’t pay themselves wages.
“If they’d have to pay wages it would clearly have been a loss making operation, so the owner has been subsidising the pub for the last few years.
“It’s unfortunate and in an ideal world, pubs would be supported and continue to trade, but it’s been marketed below market price with no interest.
“In this day and age in small settlements like this it’s very difficult for public houses to survive and the building has had a lack of maintenance and suffering from rising damp with some parts not able to be habited.”
Coun Paul Redgate issued a warning about all pubs..
“We’ve been here numerous times with public houses in small rural villages,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say while residents acknowledge it’s a loss to them, very few residents have used it in recent times.
“We need residents to understand that if they’re not using these facilities there’s very little opportunity open to us other than to seek other ways and means to use these sites.
“This has been on the market a while and it’s not a well used public house.
“Yes the settlement grew up around the public house, there would be no Saracen’s Head if it wasn’t for the original building, yes it’s the last public house on that side of the A17 in that area and it would be a loss, however as the business has proved it’s not sustainable.
“If residents want to use these facilities they have to commit to use them and we need to get that message out there otherwise we’ll see more and more of these in planning.”
