Banburyshire villagers gathered at meeting are thrilled when plan to turn their village pub into a home is rejected
Villagers gathered at a planning meeting were thrilled when councillors voted to reject a plan to turn their village pub into a home.
Members of the Cherwell District Council planning committee were met with a round of applause after they unanimously voted to refuse contentious plans which would result in the loss of The Bell, Great Bourton.
James Day submitted an application to turn the pub, in Manor Road, into a family home and make minor alterations to the building, after buying the pub last May.
The plans received 239 objections and a campaign to ‘Save The Bell Inn’ was launched.
The pub has been closed since May 2023, and was sold by Hook Norton Brewery who said it was no longer commercially viable to keep it open. Officers had recommended the scheme for approval.
A number of locals appeared in person at Cherwell District Council’s planning committee meeting last Thursday (May 15) in protest at the plans, and held posters calling for the pub to be saved.
Councillor Chris Brant, who is the ward councillor for the village, said: “Village pubs like The Bell Inn in Great Bourton are a beating heart of our rural communities where isolation is broken, local ties are strengthened and the spirit of the community lives on.
“The strength of our community is clear, shown not only by the turnout this evening but also by the formation of an action group, the 230 plus formal objections submitted and the floods of emails that we’ve all received in the last few weeks.
“We’re not talking about an abandoned, derelict building left empty for decades. This was a thriving, well-loved village pub until recently.”
He added that the community was ‘denied a fair opportunity to act’, because the pub was marketed and sold as a pub, not as a development opportunity or as a home.
The owner of the former pub had already started to gut the building and remove the features of the pub before any planning decision was made.
Will Whitelock, agent on behalf of the applicant, said: “You can’t keep pubs open in perpetuity where there are no prospects of the pub being viable in the long term.
“It has to be acknowledged that with the advent of Covid, people’s change in leisure habits and expectations, pubs are under increasing pressure.”
Councillor Douglas Webb, who is ward councillor for the pub, put forward a motion to refuse the scheme which councillors unanimously agreed to pass.
The owner of the building is not obliged to open it as a pub but they will not be able to change it into a family home.
According to the Save The Bell campaign website, the group are developing plans to make community ownership of the pub a reality and have reached out to the developer in the hope of amicably discussing the future of pub.
The website describes the pub as ‘more than just a pub—it’s a living piece of Great Bourton’s history and a vital part of the community’s fabric. For generations, it has been a place where locals gather, celebrate, and connect. Its story reflects the resilience and character of the village, making it a treasure worth preserving’.