SaveThe Storey Arms

UPDATE      25th January 2018

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It has been over a year since we update the website, that is because there hasn’t been anything significant to report.   In the recent weeks there has been movement so we thought it would be worth summarising the situation with the pub to date….

 

Phil (the current owner) advertised the Storey Arms for sale during 2017 asking for £500,000. If Phil has received any offers he has not accepted them and this month we heard that Phil had closed the pub. 

 

We understand that he has now been told by the NWLDC Planning Department that he is not allowed to do this and still live in the premises under the conditions of use of the building, i.e. it can’t be turned into just a residence.  He has subsequently decided to reopen the pub.  

 

We have previously made an offer based on a survey of the property and the market value of the property as a pub and in line with what Phil originally indicated he would accept. During 2017 we had been hoping Phil would come back and talk to us about options for going forward.  We still have money to buy and renovate the pub and remain optimistic Phil will as some stage sell us the Storey to safeguard the pub and asset for the long-term benefit of the community.

UPDATE      8th January 2017

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We thought it would be worth summarising the situation with the pub to date, as there seem to be quite a few misunderstandings as to what is going on out there! It will hopefully this will put things straight and prevent further village gossip.

First and foremost, we are not trying to save the pub as it is, (i.e. Phil and Sue’s pub).  Our aim is to buy the building, renovate it and then get a new Landlord in to run it for the benefit of all the community; to make a great place to go for a drink and food, and to offer a range of other services.  

Secondly both Phil (the current Landlord) and the "save the pub" committee have independently had the business valued, which ranged from £175,000 to £220,000.  Phil has received a generous offer over and above this from the committee, which he refuses to officially accept or decline. Incidentally Phil did accept a verbal, informal offer of £200,000 about two years ago, which, I am afraid to say, he has reneged on.

The valuation surveys also showed that the building requires in the region of £100,000 to bring it up to standard.  Those figures combined make up the £300,000 that the Parish Council have received for the 16 houses on Dawson’s Road.  That figure was not picked out of the air, it was discussed with Phil and was the basis of the negotiations, so now we are stuck with 16 house that no one wants (although they would probably have been built at some time in the future anyway), £300,000 in a bank account that we can’t spend and a dwindling pub.

The Storey Arms is first a foremost a Pub (i.e. a business) which happens to have accommodation attached. The building’s primary use is for business purposes, it just happens to come with accommodation as a secondary use.  This is a very important point that the public need to understand. As a business property it has the capacity to generate revenue, which residential properties do not, so they cannot be compared and are valued very differently.

The pub is not and it never has been worth the £400,000 that Phil wants for it, it is aspirational on his part – we would all like to think that our houses are worth twice what they really are, but the fact it that they are worth what they are worth, and in this case it is around £200,000, because it is a business.  It is even debatable that if it ever did get change of use, that it would get £400,000 as a development.  However it will never get change of use whilst the village show interest in keeping it as a pub therefore support to save the pub will continue.

The Committee very much supports the pub and will continue to fight to keep it as we have been for almost 4 years.  No one has suggested boycotting the pub, but after so long, and Phil’s behaviour, it has become more difficult to muster up the enthusiasm to go down the pub as it stands at present.

Hopefully this has given the facts to help understand the situation. Please don’t think we don’t care about the pub, we do, and we have worked tirelessly, we still have regular meetings and try to negotiate with Phil.  But I am afraid to say that he has now gone back on what he said and has wasted a lot of people’s time. Recently Phil won’t even negotiate with the committee; bearing in mind he started the whole thing in the first place – he came to the village and asked us to buy it.

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The Pub campaign is successful in the "£20,000 for Seven" awards scheme!

North West Leicestershire District Council announced on 28th January that Osgathorpe Community Pub Limited, the Registered Society set up to try to buy, repair and modernise the Storey Arms as a hub for village life, had been successful in its application for a grant of £20,000 towards the cost of essential repairs and modernisation.

How is this going to benefit the community of Osgathorpe?

 

The Story Arms is already listed as an Asset of Community Value which means that the local Council recognises that it "furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community". It also gives the community a right to bid for it and makes granting planning consent for ‘change of use’ (such as housing development) extremely unlikely. We know lots of people don’t use the pub as it is now, but as a community owned venture it is within your power to make it what you want it to be. It will be your community hub and we want you to have your say in what it turns in to. See more on how below.

 In the future the pub will be run by a community-minded tenant landlord who will pay rent to the village to run the pub as a business. This rent will provide recurring income to the village, which through the Parish Council, will be available to fund all sorts of other initiatives that will benefit our community.

 

Who is behind this and how can I be involved?

 

At the moment there are a small group of village residents who have formed Osgathorpe Community Pub Limited (OCPL). None of these ‘committee members’ have any personal interest in the  ownership of the freehold of the Storey Arms, but all believe passionately in preserving the Storey Arms as a valuable community asset. They have been quietly working in the background over the last year agreeing with lawyers how the District Council and Parish Council make the funds available to buy the pub, as well as applying for grants to help costs and obtaining advice from several organisations.

OCPL is a Registered Society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and it exists only to serve the interests of the community. Therefore it is vitally important that from now on the Society has as many ‘members’ from the village community as possible. We will shortly be publishing more information on becoming a member of the society through a share scheme and we plan to hold a launch meeting open to everyone.

Once a member of the society, you will be able to influence and vote on future decisions regarding the pub. Also, once we have some more members the society we will be able to hold an election to vote in a new committee to manage how we move forward.

 

What about renovating the building?

 

The building is going to require substantial renovation to make it fit for purpose, both as a community pub and as residential accommodation for a tenant landlord. The OCPL society has bid for funds from the additional £100,000 made available to the Parish Council through the Dawson’s Road planning consent 106 agreement. We have also pitched for a grant through NWLDC ‘£20,000-for-seven’ scheme supporting local communities, as well as being in the early stages of a National Lottery bid. Should we be successful in buying the pub it is inevitable that it will be closed for a while for renovation work.

 

What happens next?

 

Firstly, and most importantly, we have to await Phil’s decision on accepting our offer! If we can agree the sale then there are number of key next steps; a re-launch meeting to encourage membership of the OCPL, detailed planning for renovations, more grant applications, first steps towards recruiting a new landlord, and regular updates on what is happening.

 

“I have so many questions!”

 

To help answer some of your questions we have some Q&As on our website www.thestoreyarms.co.uk

 

We encourage you to speak to any of the current committee members to find out more; please visit the Contact Us page

 

If you would like a regular update by email, please send your email address to savethestorey@gmail.com

 

If you don’t have email please contact Rob Whyard at Vine House, 24 Main Street to ensure we have your address on a paper mailing list.