Villagers to hold meeting over plans to reopen pub

A meeting is being held to update residents on plans to reopen a village pub as a community venture.

The Plough in Shepreth has been shut since December 2010, after the previous owners October Restaurants went into liquidation.

A group of villagers operating under the name Shepreth Ploughshare have been investigating the possibility of reopening the pub as a community-run initiative, and have called called a meeting for next Thursday, November 7, to update residents on their plan.

David Elliot, from Ploughshare, said: “We chose to have Shepreth Ploughshare as the name for our community initiative. Ploughshare is the cutting edge of the plough and we considered it very apt, in view of the entrenchment of developers over The Plough. Ploughshare is also suitable to the gathering of the funding required to save The Plough which will be raised by share issue”

Last year a developer sought planning permission to turn the Plough into a residential dwelling by applying for Change of use. This was refused by South Cambs District Council, and though the developer appealed the decision, it was upheld after strong protests from Shepreth residents.

The Ploughshare commitee will discuss recent developments on the scheme at the meeting, which takes place at Shepreth Village Hall. It starts at 8pm on Thursday, November 7.