More than 70 villagers crammed into a meeting in Guilden Morden last week to discuss a community bid for The Three Tuns pub.
The Three Tuns Community Group is organising the bid to buy the pub – which closed in 2013, and is Guilden Morden’s only Asset of Community Value – on behalf of the village.
Group chairman Dennis Tear said: “The Three Tuns played a central role in village life for generations.
“We now have a once in a lifetime opportunity not only to get the pub back but to safeguard it as a social hub in the village for future generations.
“We appeal to everyone who recognises the critical importance of pubs in rural communities to pledge their support.”
If the sale was to go through, The Three Tuns would join nearly 60 community-owned pubs in the country with that status.
As an ACV, there is a six-month moratorium to enable the local community to raise money to bid for the pub, which is more than 160 years old.
This expires on February 1, 2018. The TTCG is seeking to raise £300,000 in pledges from up to 300 investors to be able to submit a bid in January.
They organised the meeting at the schoolroom of the village’s Congregational Chapel in Pound Green on Tuesday last week to explain how a community purchase of The Three Tuns would work and to appeal for investors to pledge to buy shares.
The meeting included contributions from Alan Collard from the Plunkett Foundation and Bernard Lee from Pub is the Hub.
If the pub was to reopen it would mean the village would be served by two pubs again, as it would join the King Edward VII – which is in Fox Hill Road.
The group’s John Harrison told the Crow: “The planning application was refused and the planning inspector said just because there’s already one pub in the village, there’s no reason why the other would close if we reopened – we believe the two pubs provide different facilities so both would serve a purpose.”
Since fundraising for the community pub was launched last month, more than £100,000 has been pledged by more than 130 investors. The emphasis now will be on broadening the supporter base, both in Guilden Morden and in surrounding village.
The Three Tuns’ owner Beverley England declined to comment when contacted by the Crow.
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