Kent licensee makes last stand to save local

An irate Kent licensee has vowed to fight on to save his popular Victorian watering hole despite losing an appeal to developers who want to turn the site into three shops, 18 flats and five maisonettes.

Mike Collings, of the Farmers in Sevenoaks, feels the community has been betrayed by councillors who failed to ensure that the appeal hearing was heard locally. Instead, it took place in Bristol.

The pub is owned by the charitable trust the Bishopsgate Institute which wishes to cash in on the site.

"I was told by the local council that it would insist the appeal was heard locally and funds were to be made available for that because it was such an important issue for the area," said Collings.

"That never materialised and the Bristol hearing was a whitewash. There is huge local opposition and that was ignored. It is a complete cock up."

Although Collings understands that the institute needs to maximise its assets, he feels it has acted in a very "uncharitable" fashion towards Seven-oaks residents.

"They never considered retaining the pub and developing the surrounding land," he said. "They could have done that."

There is no right of appeal but Collings hopes that a high profile campaign will grab the attention of someone looking for a good cause especially as it is election time. He is urging locals to badger MPs, celebrities and the media in order to attract attention. The pub could still be saved if around £3m could be raised.