SAVE OUR SARN – Update January 2022
Click here to read the January update.
For more information about this project and to get involved please email Louise Rees, rees@hotmail.com.
SAVE OUR SARN – PLEDGES RECEIVED Update 12 November 2021
Hello Everyone,
We’re half way through our campaigning to raise the necessary funds to buy and refurbish the pub. Several of you have already pledged financial support for the campaign – for which a big thank you!
Please click here to see how much we have raised to date. A total of 39 people have pledged support so far but we need many, many more pledges to reach our target of £160,000 – and remember we need all pledges in by Sunday, November 21st.
For regular updates on the running total return to this website page, or follow the campaign Facebook page ‘Save Our Sarn Steering Group’.
PLEASE PLEDGE – WE CAN DO THIS!
Thank you for your continued support.
The Sarn Steering Group
SAVE OUR SARN CAMPAIGN UPDATE 1st November 2021
Hello Everyone,
We are only a handful of weeks away now from submitting our application to the government for funding to help us buy and refurbish the Sarn pub. We are now at the stage where we have to say how much we are prepared to put in.
The two links below explain where we are in the process and there is a pledge form for you to sign and return.
At the risk of being repetitive there are a couple of points that bear repeating:
- You are not required to pay any money at this stage
- Any amount pledged now is not a binding agreement
- All pledges will remain confidential and only seen by one member of the Sarn Steering Group, Brian Mackie
This is explained in more detail in the linked covering letter. The deadline for returning your pledge form is Sunday, 21st November 2021.
We are working hard for a successful outcome and we are very grateful for your continuing support.
The Sarn Steering Group.
S.O.S
Save Our Sarn
FUND RAISING PUB NIGHT!
Thank you all so much for your support at our Save our Sarn pop-up-pub fund raiser in the village hall. We were delighted to see so many of you there – far more than we had expected. And we would also like to extend a very special welcome to all our new neighbours.
We were pleased to hear so many positive comments about the evening and our compliments about the ambience created were much appreciated. It was almost like the happy, noisy, pre-Covid Friday nights at the Sarn and a reminded of how important it is to have a chance to meet p for an evening with friends. Based on the success of last Friday we certainly intend to have another pop-up. Watch this space!
We could only have a limited range of drinks so decided to restrict our bar to bottles of lager, cider, bitter, wine and soft drinks. We also had a firkin of Pale Ale supplied by Beech Avenue brewery in Holt which was very much enjoyed and sold out in a flash. Unfortunately, the second smaller cask of Golden Ale failed to take off. Many apologies for this – we will not use this Golden Ale cask again.
We now have a health ‘fighting fund’ to help us with our campaign to Save Our Sarn. Should we not need this money it will be donated to the Tallarn green village hall. Once we have gathered in all the costs we will let you know how much we have made for the fund.
Thank you all once again – see you very soon at the next pop-up-pub!
Queens Head, The Sarn.
SAVE OUR SARN CAMPAIGN UPDATE OCTOBER 2021
A big thank you to all of you for your continued interest in and support for the ‘Save Our Sarn’ campaign. Below is an update on our current situation as of 6th Oct. 2021.
Should you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the steering group either by email, saveoursarn@gmail.com, or via Facebook (Save Our Sarn steering group).
Thank you so much for your feedback to the campaign questionnaire. Attached is a summary of all the results (expressed in simple pie charts), as well as a page detailing your ideas and comments for varying uses for the pub. Please keep your feedback coming!
Results Summary
Ideas & Comments
SAVE OUR SARN CAMPAIGN UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2021
For those who could not attend the public meeting on the 10th Sept, please see attached two presentations and Q&A’s from the meeting. Also see brief biographies on the Sarn steering group.
Presentation – Maureen Madill
Presentation – Brian Mackie
Questions & Answers
SARN STEERING GROUP MEMBERS
Should you have any queries please contact the group via the NEW email address: saveoursarn@gmail.com
Thank you for your continued support!
SAVE OUR SARN CAMPAIGN Background Information
As you may be aware, the Queen’s Head pub, The Sarn, is under threat and we, as a community, want to purchase it and save it. A great deal of work was carried out by a group of locals in the winter and early spring of 2021 and by the third week in April this year we were five days away from launching this website and trying to procure funding to buy the pub. At this point we learned that a prospective buyer had put in an offer to Admiral Taverns to buy The Sarn which was accepted. We met this buyer and were encouraged to hear that his vision for The Sarn pretty much matched our own and therefore we mothballed this project. Unfortunately, we were recently informed that the buyer had withdrawn his interest.
We then learned that another offer had been made and accepted by Admiral Taverns, this time from two partners. Unfortunately, after conversing with them it is apparent that they have no real interest in running The Sarn as a pub and so we felt we needed to resurrect this project.
Below is an explanation of what we have done so far, with the aim of bringing you, the members of the community, into the loop.
INTRODUCTION
The past year or so has been unforgettable for several reasons and amidst all the grief it perhaps seems wrong to be worrying about the local pub. Through good times and bad The Sarn’ has been a focal point for village life bringing local people on both sides of the border together for friendship, entertainment, escape and so much more. However, with the retirement of Richard and Joan and the devastating impact of Covid-19 we have seen The Sarn close and subsequently be put up for sale. This has been a concern for many of us.
It is possible, of course, that The Sarn may be bought by an experienced publican who will reopen the pub, but it is a very real risk that developers may be attracted by the prospect of converting the pub into housing. Granted, planning permission may be difficult to obtain, but protracted wrangling could well spell the end for the pub.
It is for these reasons that a group of local people have started to investigate whether it might be possible for the community to buy the pub and reopen it. Numerous pubs in similar situations have been successfully bought by their local communities and the Chancellor underlined the government’s support of this type of acquisition by announcing potential funding in the last budget. The scheme started in the middle of July 2021 and communities may apply for funding up to £250,000. If successful, the government would match the monies already raised by the community.
Other villages have successfully organised community buy-outs and, with the prospect of this additional government help, so can we. Have a look at these two case studies of villages which were once in a similar situation to us.
The financial side of things is explained in more detail later but there is no point in avoiding the fact that if the community is to buy The Sarn many of us are going to have to be prepared to invest in the project. We believe it is well worth the investment for lots of reasons. The obvious one is a return on your investment but there are also many social benefits. In addition, research shows that having a thriving local pub in your village increases property values (See The UK Property News Hub article by Lisa Baker in 2020).
QUESTIONNAIRE
This is where we need your help. We have included a link to a questionnaire (See link, below), which we encourage you to fill in and return by 25th September 2021. We want and need to know what you think. Completed questionnaires will be put into a hat for the chance to win a bottle of champagne!
S.O.S Questionnaire (online version)
SOS Questionnaire (printable PDF)
THE SARN STEERING GROUP (SSG)
For ease of reference this is the name we have given to the group of local people who have investigated the setting up of a platform from which it would be possible to buy the pub, if that is what the community wishes. We have consulted widely, calling on the expertise of those in the hospitality industry, finance, property, and marketing arenas, amongst others. We are using the services of The Plunkett Foundation (a charity committed to saving local pubs as well as local sports clubs), which is an invaluable resource as this is a road well-travelled by them and they understand what is required for a successful outcome.
With any campaign of this nature somebody must start it off and that is what we have done. Success, however, depends on community involvement and support, whether that be financial or practical. We will need lots of hands-on help in refurbishing the pub and, thankfully, communicating with everyone is becoming easier in these post-Covid times.
The purpose of this website is to tell you what we have done so far and to keep you up to date with an ever-changing landscape. We want to let everyone in Threapwood, Sarn, Tallarn Green, Worthenbury and surrounding rural areas know about the S.O.S. (Save Our Sarn) campaign. We are mindful that some folks are not online, and we would appreciate your help in keeping everyone in the loop. We are also aware that there are many people from further afield who have enjoyed The Sarn over the years – so please help us and tell everybody you know what is happening and put them in touch with this website.
At this stage we have concentrated on setting out the information that we have collected to date. This website will evolve over time as the campaign progresses so please revisit it for regular updates.
We have listed the names of all those involved in the campaign so far at the end of this website because we think you will want to know who we are, but we won’t feel complete until you join us!
THE STORY SO FAR….
The Sarn closed in September 2020 when Richard and Joan finally retired. The owners, Admiral Taverns, had been advertising for a new tenant without success, not particularly surprising given the pandemic.
Then in February 2021 no fewer than three different estate agencies erected signs advertising the pub for sale making it obvious that Admiral Taverns now wished to sell The Sarn. To our consternation we learned that the principal interest was coming from developers. Although there may well be significant planning problems for anybody wanting to redevelop The Sarn we were worried that this might not deter some from trying. (See Policy ‘DM39’ of the Cheshire West and Chester Local Plan, below).
Cheshire West & Chester Local Plan
The Threapwood Parish Council agreed to make an application on our behalf to the Cheshire West and Chester Council for The Sarn to be designated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV). This application has now been made and has been successful. This means The Sarn will be protected for five years during which time its owners will be prevented from selling the building without first giving community groups six months in which to raise necessary funds to purchase it for themselves. This does not guarantee us the right to buy the pub, but it does make a sale to a third party more difficult. It also adds weight to the planning arguments as to why permission should not be granted for a change of use to residential. (See ACV application, below).
The application for the ACV designation was supported by Willington and Worthenbury Community Council and district councillors on both sides of the border wrote in in support.
Many of us value the simple charms of The Sarn but it has been sorely in need of a little TLC for some time. This is the ideal time for this to happen with the prospect of matched funding from the government. Please put your thinking caps on. As we progress we will need your ideas and input.
Some of you may wonder just how a community pub is run. This may make you think of a business where enthusiastic locals take turns behind the bar and try their hand at cooking in a commercial kitchen. After all, we’ve all seen The Rovers Return and Masterchef, so how difficult can it be?!
This would most definitely not be our preferred option. As you will see from the section on funding, our vision is for the community to purchase and then refurbish the pub. Upon appointing a tenant, it would then be time for us to step back and allow a professional to run his or her own business.
WE ARE NOT ALONE……
We are very grateful for the help we have already received from people who are fond of The Sarn, and their invaluable advice is helping us steer a steady course. Listed below are expressions of support for what we are trying to achieve.
“The Queens Head is a cherished watering hole for both Threapwood and the neighbouring village of Tallarn Green, which the Sarn bisects, and Threapwood Parish Council strongly support the Sarn Steering Group in their quest to save this important asset to our community.”
Miles Lewis – Chairman of Threapwood Parish Council
I was born in Threapwood and have been a resident of Tallarn Green and Sarn. I have been a member of the Community Council for 15 years and Chairman for the last seven years. Joan Barlow and I have been licensees of The Sarn for the last 19 years – it has been a huge part of our lives. The pub has been the focal point of our local community, and further afield, for a long time and I think it is extremely important that we support any efforts to restore the pub to become a great asset to the local community again.
Richard Mewes – Chairman of Willington and Worthenbury Community Council
I was born in Tallarn Green, as were my parents and grandparents. I have lived here all my life and I am very aware of the historic social value the Queens Head has contributed over many decades to our community as the only place in the area where friends and neighbours can gather to regularly meet and socialise in this rural area. I therefore wish the Steering Group every success in its quest to purchase The Sarn and put it back where it should be – at the centre of our community.
Cllr Rodney Skelland
I don’t live very far away and know quite a few people who live in and around Sarn and believe that this pub is an important place for locals to meet, socialise and generally keep a sense of community going. Rural pubs, especially smaller ones with limited facilities and grounds are dying out, yet in my view are essential for keeping a community spirit alive. After 35 years of operating and running pubs and pub companies (Brunning and Price had 56 pubs when I finally handed over the reins) I am fully behind anyone who is prepared to put the work in to preserve a village pub for the benefit of their community and am happy to guide and help you to achieve, within a reasonable budget, your vision of what The Queens Head should be going forward
Graham Price – Co-founder of Brunning and Price and Co-owner of The Boat at Erbistock
HOW CAN WE RAISE THE NECESSARY MONEY?
To buy The Sarn we need to raise a considerable sum of money. The exact amount will obviously depend on the negotiation of the purchase price with Admiral Taverns and the extent of refurbishment that we agree upon. It is a big task but over 100 communities around the country have already been successful in buying their local pubs and we believe we can do it as well.
In the March 2021 budget, the Government announced that they would be launching the ‘Community Ownership Fund’ in June this year. It came on-stream in July. A successful application to this fund for a community benefit project (such as a community buy-out of a local pub) will result in the government matching every £1 raised by the community, up to a maximum of £250,000. We see this Fund as an outstanding opportunity that will help us achieve our goal. The potential availability of the Community Ownership Fund effectively halves the amount of money that we would need to raise locally to make the purchase of the pub happen.
At this stage, we estimate that a target sum of £320,000 is needed to secure the purchase of the pub and undertake the necessary refurbishment. This means that we, the community, would need to raise in the region of £160,000. We would then apply for matched funding from the government which, if successful, would bring us to the £320,000 target.
We propose to set up a Community Benefit Society (CBS). Once we determine the level of financial support from the community and see if it is sufficient to meet 50% of The Sarn purchase cost and refurbishment, we would apply for matched funding via the government’s Community Ownership Fund.
The CBS format is different from traditional limited companies in that the voting rights of shareholder members is ‘one shareholder, one vote’, irrespective of how many shares held. Current thinking is that we would price each community share at £100, with an upper limit of 200 shares per individual. Each shareholder would be entitled to one vote regardless of the number of shares held. But every little helps and, as an alternative to buying shares any donation, no matter how small, would be very welcome! The CBS would be run by a democratically elected management group, elected at predetermined intervals by the shareholder members. It is planned that interest would be paid on invested shares as and when The Sarn CBS has generated sufficient financial reserves to do so.
On successful share subscription by the community and receipt of government grant funding, the CBS would purchase The Sarn and complete the necessary refurbishment work.
OUR TIMELINE
The Sarn is on the market and government funding is finite, so we need to act quickly. Our most pressing target relates to the submission of the grant application via the Community Ownership Fund. In July the government published details of the process and invited applications for funding. Guidance from the Plunkett Foundation gives us the confidence that we can meet these requirements and it is essential we understand the wishes of the community.
It is important we have our application ready for submission shortly, so we stand the best chance of success before the available funding begins to be committed to other projects.
This means that we have a lot to do and will need to work quickly. We need to have completed the following by 30th November 2021…
- Already you should have received a flyer and seen the posters publicising the S.O.S Save Our Sarn campaign
- We will be arranging an evening public meeting in Tallarn Green Village Hall on 10th of September
- We need you to complete and return either the on-line version of the community questionnaire, or the paper copy by the 25th of September
- We then need to analyse the results of the questionnaires
- In October the questionnaire feedback will be published on the website, as well as the campaign proposals and business case
- In November we plan to have another public meeting in Tallarn Green Village Hall to go through the proposals in more detail and after that meeting you will be required to indicate what financial commitment you would be prepared to make to support the campaign
- We are continuing to work on assessing the condition of the building and what it will cost to refurbish it so that it can be opened again
- We are looking carefully at the type of improvements that we would like to make and your responses to the questionnaire will be very important in this respect. We will work out how much these works will cost
- We are continuing to prepare a business plan so that we can be sure The Sarn will be commercially viable once it reopens. This will be shared with you before the final application is made
The above will take us to the point at which we will be able to complete our application to the Community Ownership Fund and submit it in December 2021.
FINALLY….
We hope that this has been useful to you in explaining what we have done so far and how we intend to progress. We welcome all questions from you and interaction with you. Open communication is the key to success of this campaign. We will be adding new information to this website as the project continues so please keep in touch with us.
We now ask that you fill in the questionnaire. There two ways of completing the questionnaire, either digitally via this website and/or via the QR code on the posters and flyers (the QR code takes you to this website); or paper copies can be obtained from Helen at the shop in Threapwood and can be returned there. Paper copies can also be obtained from Maureen Madill at Larkhill, Sarn Road (07768 476619). If necessary, please get paper copies for your non-digital neighbours so they are kept in the loop. The deadline for completed questionnaires is the 25th of September and all completed questionnaires received by that time will be put into a hat with the chance to win a bottle of champagne! Good luck!.
Important note re GDPR. (General data protection Regulations)
Your personal details will not be used for any purpose other than updating and talking to you about our campaign. We will keep it secure and not share it with anyone else. If, at this stage, you wish to remain anonymous, that is absolutely fine. If, at any point, you wish your data to be removed please contact one of the Sarn Steering Group members by email or in writing. We will then not contact you again. Thank you for your support in helping us gauge interest in our campaign.
The Sarn Steering Group members includeAdrian Rees, Maureen Madill, Brian Mackie, Jane Chewins, Richard Mewes, Matt Gilbert, Carol Clinton, Ed Burke, Margy Burke and Ian James amongst others. We now hope many more of you will join us!
SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
Who are we?
A handful of local people intent on bringing the community together to help save the Queens Head pub, The Sarn.
Is The Sarn really in danger of being lost?
If a new tenant was found for and there was proper investment in its refurbishment by its owners we would be delighted. However, we can’t guarantee that and now that Admiral Taverns have indicated that they want to sell the building this looks increasingly unlikely.
Doesn’t planning policy protect it?
Planning policy does make it very difficult to change the use but once the pub is sold to somebody else we simply don’t know what the future will bring. An application for designation as an ‘Asset of Community Value’ has successfully been lodged with and granted by Cheshire West and Chester council. This will make it more difficult for the building to be sold to persons who might not want to open the pub again.
What have we been doing?
With the help of the Parish Council, we have been organising a “Save Our Sarn” website which, in these still slightly Covid times, will be one of our main ways of communicating with the local community. Leaflets and banners will further highlight our objectives. We have prepared a questionnaire so that we can shape the project to suit the majority. Please fill it in.
When do we need to do something?
We must act now to maximise the prospects of getting our pub back. We welcome any help you can give us. The first thing we need you to do is fill in and return the questionnaire without delay. And please keep any friends and neighbours who are not online informed. Paper copies of the questionnaire are available from Helen in the shop and can be returned there.
What do we need to do further down the line?
To buy The Sarn from Admiral Taverns we need investment from the community – investment that will pay you interest on the money used to purchase the building. This, together with matched funding from the government could save a very important facility that is central in the life of the local community.
Is there a plan to refurbish The Sarn?
Should there be enough interest and commitment from the community to proceed with the application for government matched funding, we hope to be able to consider refurbishment of the pub. Obviously what is possible will depend on the success of that application. When we have monies in place we will ask you for your input, either with another form to fill in or, hopefully, by hosting a community meeting, if allowed.
How much money do we need to raise?
It has been established that The Sarn will need a fair bit of repair and refurbishment. At this early stage our working estimate is that we would probably need to raise in the region of £160,000 locally. This sum would then be doubled by a successful application for a government grant to give a total budget of £320,000. However, this is only an estimate at this stage.
Why would I consider investing in The Sarn?
The Sarn is a vital element in local community life. If you haven’t used it in the past we hope you will in the future. For many locals it has contributed positively to their enjoyment of living here.
From a financial perspective, research has demonstrated that having a local pub in a rural area adds to the value of everybody’s property. At present any money invested in a deposit account earns virtually nothing. We aim to provide a better rate of interest and at the same time you would be supporting your community.
What if I needed my money back?
We anticipate that we will need an initial commitment for three years. We do understand, however, that people’s circumstances may change. Once The Sarn is up and running the management group could look at individual requests to withdraw funds as finances permit. We would then look for replacement funding from within the community. We can provide more detail on this in the share prospectus when we seek firm commitment from investors.
Who would run the pub?
There are two options – appoint a tenant landlord who will operate the pub as his or her own business. Alternatively, it is possible to set up a scheme for the community to run the pub themselves. Historically, the latter has not been a successful option. We would obviously wish to appoint a tenant with the appropriate experience and enthusiasm to make The Sarn a real success. It’s also important to avoid a “revolving door” situation, i.e., multiple tenants over a short time.
When will the pub be open if we are successful in the buy-out?
That depends on when the government funding comes through, but a realistic goal would be by the summer/autumn of 2022.