WALKHAMPTON residents are appealing for support for their campaign to save their local pub and preserve one of the only remaining community assets in the village.

With help from some local organisations, the residents have been campaigning for several months in an attempt to retain the use of the Walkhampton Inn, which has been on the market for a year, as a pub.

Many local people believe the pub is a vital community asset for the village and fear that without some protection, it could be converted into residential accom-modation.

Over the past 15 years the Walkhampton Inn has been managed by at least six different tenants, each tenancy lasting only two or three years.

The pub closed in February 2015, and the owners of the building, Criterion Asset Management are currently seeking a new tenant.

Andy Paskins, a retired Walkhampton resident, helped to form the group which is campaigning to keep the pub.

He said: ‘It is a small, friendly village pub and a significant number of villagers have used it regularly. Everyone seemed concerned about its closure, so I wrote to the owners asking them to consider a relaxation in the tenancy agreement to make it more attractive to potential tenants.

‘A copy of the letter was also sent to West Devon Borough Council (WDBC). At the moment the condition of the building is visibly deteriorating.

‘The nearest pub is over half a mile away – in Dousland. It doesn’t sound very far away, but the road has no pavement, is unlit and quite steep and very dangerous, especially under icy conditions.

Andy added: ‘The village has been losing its sense of community in recent years because of the closure of local amenities. The Old Post Office closed at least 20 years ago and the village shop about ten years ago.

‘We have organised a petition to gauge the support within the parish and have also posted notices on the village’s Facebook page to encourage people to support the petition. We have had a 40% response to the petition, all in favour of our aims: 70% from the village; 12% from other parts of the parish; and the remainder from further afield.’

To retain the use of the pub, the group can apply for it to be listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), meaning that if the pub is sold a community group would have the opportunity to put in a bid for the pub. It also makes it more difficult for the owner to obtain ‘change of use status’. However, the current owners would be notified and have the opportunity to object.

The chairman of Burrator Parish Council (BPC) said: ‘The BPC has agreed to do what it can to assist the residents of Walkhampton Village in their attempts to preserve the inn from further disrepair and from the possibility of it being repurposed as a private dwelling. The BPC has agreed to apply for the Inn to be listed as ACV.

‘What the community hopes is that this listing will: prevent the owners from applying for a ‘change of use’ order and thereby allowing it to be sold as a private dwelling, enforce a grace period of up to six months should the owners place the inn on the market for sale to allow local funding options to be explored and encourage the owners to make the inn more attractive financially for prospective tenants.

‘The BPC fully support the aims of the residents and supporters in bringing the inn back into use as a village pub as well as an amenity to be used by the wider community and to host visitors and events organised by the village hall. There is no plan for the BPC to purchase the inn or to become financially involved in any way.’