Campaigners hit back at 'alternative' Bratton Fleming pub proposal

Proposals for a ‘community hub’ with pub and shop by Bratton Fleming’s Millennium Green have been criticised by campaigners who say they still want to see The White Hart restored as the village pub after a 12 year closure.

Philip Milton, who owns the White Hart building, has applied for planning permission to turn the site of the temporary village shop into a hub with shop, pub and post office, as well as managers’ accommodation above, as revealed by the North Devon Gazette on March 27.

But Bratton Fleming Community Benefit Society Ltd (BFCBS), which has tried for years to see the White Hart reopened, said the new application was ‘an unnecessary distraction’.

Mr Milton does not own the proposed ‘new’ site, but anyone can submit a planning application, as the society did on the former White Hart last year, which was approved – but it gives no power to develop the property.

In a statement, the society said it had considered the site proposed by Mr Milton, but concluded it was not suitable and the White Hart site was still the best option.

Both the society and Bratton Fleming Parish Council – which says it owns the temporary shop site, while the Millennium Green Trust owns the car park area – say any development there would conflict with up to 30 houses allocated on the local plan.

Philip Milton maintains the White Hart, which he purchased in 2014 almost two years after it closed, is not viable as a pub. He has applied several times to reopen it as a pub with housing, while a housing-only application was rejected at appeal last year.

The society said it had made several offers to buy the former pub, most recently for £200,000 plus VAT in September 2022, which Mr Milton said was far too low. The BFCBS said other offers included £275,000 in 2017 and up to £175,000 in 2018. Following separate assessments, both sides disagree on the value.  Mr Milton has said it is not for sale presently.

The society said there were ‘a range of grant funding options available to community groups’ to enable the purchase.

Above: The former White Hart public house. Credit: Google Street View

A BFCBS statement said: “We have always been and remain willing to purchase, refurbish and run The White Hart as a community hub at the heart of our village. 

“We are pleased Mr Milton appears to agree with us the village can support a viable pub and community hub and we would like to invite him to work constructively with us and agree to the sale of The White Hart at a sensible price reflecting market value in order to enable the community to realise its vision.

“We believe a positive outcome for The White Hart and our village is entirely within the realms of possibility, given a little genuine community-minded spirit.”

A parish council statement said: “The community has been very clear it wishes to see The White Hart reopened as a thriving community hub, including a pub, shop, post office and tearoom.

“Given the fact a well-established community premises with parking and a garden already exists at the heart of our village and has planning permission for conversion into a community hub, we can see no overriding need or justification for allowing the current proposal, sufficient to outweigh the importance attached to delivering new homes in the midst of a recognised housing crisis.” 

The Gazette put these points to Mr Milton, who said the ‘alternative’ community hub site was a ‘brilliant solution’ and the limited space on the ‘redundant pub’ site, on the main road and next to a school, made it a poor choice for modern times.

Of the society’s attempts to buy the building, or get grant funding, he said: “They have had 12 years to do this and so far, have nothing to show and no co-operation with us at all. Initially we even took-on and paid for the alcohol and entertainment licence in the hope it would be able to be reopened, but that is totally unfeasible now.

“Our proposal for the alternative site does not stop future development in any way, in the same way consent for the shop did not, if community leaders have the will to make it happen.”