Pub saved from change of use

A village pub in Buckinghamshire will not be converted into a private dwelling after plans were rejected at a public meeting last week.

The Bull in Bellingdon, near Chesham, closed last summer — soon after two applications for extensions were turned down by Chiltern District Council.

Fortitude Investments, which bid to change the use of the pub, told the Bucks Free Press that the village would not lose a community facility as there were other pubs within easy reach.

But local councillor Nick Rose said the community was "really entirely solid in opposing the change to a private dwelling".

At a planning meeting last week Bellingdon resident Stefan Gryko said: "The Bull is a facility in a village with very few community facilities. There are but three: the pub, the village hall and an equestrian store, and that's it."

Rose pointed out that Fortitude had previously applied for permission to extend the pub, but this was refused twice on the grounds that it wasn't appropriate and would encroach on a green-belt area.

"There is clear evidence that there is a lot of community support for the Bull. There have been a lot of letters to the council setting out how much the community values the pub and doesn't want to lose it."