The fight to save The Prince of Wales in Newtown St Martin, near Helford, in Cornwall, entered a dramatic phase last week. The owners notified the group that they would be open to their offer to purchase the pub for £440,000 if they could raise the remaining funds.

Prince of Wales Newtown St Martin
The Prince of Wales, Newtown St Martin. Photograph: Friends of Newtown St Martin Pub

To date, the group has won £125,000 in funding after submitting detailed plans of how they could make the pub both viable and highly beneficial to the local community.

The owners have since removed the front signage of the pub and also submitted a planning application to build two bungalows on what is currently the pub car park.

They have also informed the community benefit society, The Friends of Newtown St Martin Pub (FONSMP), and local St Martin Parish Council that they will be going ahead with a planning application to change the use of the property into a dwelling.

The group are now urging the community to object to any planning application to change the use of the property, and to object to the proposal to build bungalows on the existing car park — a scheme which also removes the pub’s ownership of the access road behind the pub — in the hope they can continue their battle to save the last local amenity in area.

“Unfortunately, the pub is worth more as a dwelling and there is also now this proposal to develop land behind the pub,” says chair of FONSMP, Viki Carpenter.

“But we are still fighting hard to save what is a vital local amenity. This is a beautiful Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but in recent years we have lost our school, our shop, and our garage. The pub is really vital for the community to come together, and as a community group we’ve worked hard to demonstrate, in a detailed business plan, how we could once again make it a real hub for the community.

‘Get behind us and support our share offer’

“Our public consultation revealed huge support for this plan. We’ve already had over £100,000 in pledges for share offer before we’ve even launched, and we have over 50 volunteers who have offered to roll their sleeves up and help us get it up and running. Our business plan and plans to benefit the community have been scrutinised and roundly praised by many experts, but sadly, the owners don’t have faith that we can do this.

“What we are urging the local community to do is to get behind us and support our share offer, and oppose the planning applications. It would be devastating to the local area to lose this pub.”

The FONSMP proposes plans to support the community through a shop, educational drop-in sessions, support groups, and clubs. According to a study by the University of Northumberland, loss of a local public house in situations such as this can mean that locally house prices are likely to drop by 10% to 20%.

Viki added: “We need the community now more than ever. We will be posting up details of our share offer and also the planning applications on our Facebook page. It’s a private group, but anyone who wishes to support our campaign can join it. We’re also sharing details on our new website.

“It’s so important for everyone to keep the faith! The most dangerous thing we face right now
is everyone abandoning hope.”