Campaign to save Lord Nelson gets boost from North Somerset Council
The Lord Nelson Pub at Cleeve. - Credit: Archant
Campaigners bidding to save a Cleeve pub from being turned into a supermarket have been handed a much-welcome boost after it was given some development protection from North Somerset Council.
The Lord Nelson Pub at Cleeve. - Credit: Archant
The Lord Nelson has been made an asset of community value (ACV) and means any supermarket switch will not be as easy as originally thought.
The pub closed in November after Cheddar-based Tout Ltd, which operates Budgens stores in Langford and Nailsea, bought it from Greene King.
A campaign to save the 200-year-old pub was formed on its closure, and a 700-strong petition for ACV status was delivered to the council.
Campaigner Ian Fergusson is delighted by the council’s move.
He said: “Our nomination in November – just as Greene King shut our pub suddenly and unceremoniously – garnered widespread support within the local community through a petition, and was backed by our parish council and district councillor Deborah Yamanaka.
“The whole context of our effort to save the Lord Nelson has now materially changed with the ACV and the legal underpinnings it provides for the entire site it sits on.”
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Mr Fergusson said he wants to ‘work co-operatively’ with Tout Ltd to ‘secure a bright future’ for the ‘cherished’ pub.
He added: “There is an overwhelming desire to keep the village pub.
“We hope Tout acts in the spirit of both the ACV and council planning obligations, to ensure retaining a pub is a key aspect of future plans for the site.”
A North Somerset Council spokesman said: “The Lord Nelson is considered an important focus for community activity and a particularly valuable social meeting place for local people as there are no other pubs in Cleeve.”
