Campaign group urge residents to have their say on plans to buy Chesterfield pub and turn it into community owned venue

The Wellington on High Street, New Whittington, was saved by the Friends of the Wellington (FOTW) in 2015 – who stopped the venue being turned into a Co-op.

Andy Bell, from the FOTW, said the pub was registered as an asset of community value (ACV) – meaning the group has an opportunity to place a bid for the venue before its owners can look to sell to any other interested parties.

“In 2015, the pub was designated as an ACV. We presented the information to Chesterfield Borough Council that it was a really good idea to have a pub that does a lot to add to the life of the village.

“It had a good trade back then, with home cooked food, good beer and all the advantages of allowing people of different ages to socialise.

“That was recognised back then, and the reason we did that was because a company had bought the pub and wanted to turn it into a Co-op. We stopped that from happening by getting the ACV, and this also gives us the chance, if it ever came up for sale, to put a bid in for it.

“It doesn’t give us the right to buy it, but we have a moratorium period where the owners can’t sell it for six months, giving us time to get together and raise the capital to buy it for the community.”

The owners of the pub are now looking to sell the property, and Andy said that the FOTW are encouraging residents to express their opinions on a potential community ownership scheme for The Wellington.

“Now, the company that has the pub is wanting to sell. The FOTW have regrouped, and we’ve taken loads of advice. The first thing to do is gauge the mood of the community and see if there’s enough people that think this is a good idea. We’re in the early stages at the moment, but we’re getting some positive feedback from the questionnaire.

“We’ve got to set up an incorporated body, which would then be able to trigger that moratorium period, and we would be able to issue shares that people could buy. It would be owned by a group of people, as a non-profit making company.

“We haven’t got our prospectus together yet, but I can see how it would shape up. We’d want to get a good tenant that's got a chance of making a profit, it’s not going to be sky-high rent for them, and it’ll be a free house as well, so they’ll be able to buy beer at cheaper prices than a tied pub.

“We would have a say on how the pub was run and what it had to deliver for the community. Which is, to start with, bringing it back to what it was like – and building on that to offer even more for the community.”

Andy said that respondents were already presenting ideas they would like to see if The Wellington became community owned – and he stressed that any money made would be put back into further improvements for the venue.

“There’s all sorts of ideas coming in from the questionnaire – one person suggested a computer club for older people, so younger people can teach them how to use computers and stay safe.

“The overarching idea of the pub is not to extract the maximum profit from it, which is what these pub companies have been trying to do, just to get their balance sheets looking right.

“Some pub companies are better than others, and some are doing quite well under that model – normally ones with a bit of a food offering and things like that.

“We’d like to see the pub secured for the long term, to benefit the community – as well as being a place where I can get a decent pint. Any profits we did make would be reinvested to make the pub even better.”

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The FOTW plan to hold a public meeting when they have finalised what they want the pub to look like and how the financing will work – which will also include details of their share offer.

Andy said that he hoped that people across the town would be interested in seeing the venue become one of only 170 community owned pubs across the country – something he described as an exciting prospect.

“It’s not just the local community, we want people to get the bus to the stop right outside the pub, and come for a few pints and listen to some live music on a weekend. That’s what it used to be like, people used to come up from around the town and surrounding areas, because it made a good night out.

“It’s a chance to actually, rather than sitting and moaning about everything, to do something and make a difference. When people buy into that idea, I think it’s quite an exciting thing.”

The FOTW questionnaire can be found here, and more information is available on the FOTW Facebook page.