A VILLAGE community has been given a chance to save its local pub after councillors threw out plans to convert it to housing.

The Rivers Arms at Cheselbourne has sat unoccupied since the pub called time in 2007 but local residents claim there is interest in reviving the venue.

They pleaded with West Dorset District Council’s development control committee to throw out a plan to convert the building into three homes so they can retain the prospect of the pub being brought back into use and ‘put the heart back in their village’.

While the applicants claimed there had been attempts to find a buyer for the pub, Gwenda Tomlinson, who has lived in the village for 16 years, suggested the owners of the pub had always intended to convert the building to housing and had not genuinely wanted to sell it as a pub.

She said: “It seems to me there has been little or no intention to sell the premises as a pub since its closure. We’ve missed our pub, please help us put the heart back in our village.”

Tilly Greenwood, vice-chairman of Cheselbourne Parish Council, said there had been interest in taking over the pub and the community was even prepared to take on the facility.

She added: “The return of the Rivers Arms as a pub would provide local employment, it would provide a social environment where a variety of people could meet and would mean the local environment would be enhanced, preserved and improved.”

There was also concern raised about works done at the pub since its closure that would require serious remedial action if it were to become a pub again and questions raised as to whether these had been intentionally done to put off potential buyers.

Ken Parke, representing the applicants, claimed the pub had been ‘robustly marketed’ but fail-ed to attract ‘any serious offers’.

He added: “The reason the property has not sold is because there is no prospect of a viable business operating in that location.”

Committee member Tony Frost said he was against the plans to convert the pub building into housing.

He said: “I do believe we should at least give Cheselbourne another chance to find someone to run their pub.”

Committee members also raised concerns about the works that had taken place at the pub and were told an ongoing enforcement case was open.

Cllr Stella Jones said: “I’m concerned that this has been left to deteriorate so that it couldn’t be a local pub any longer and some of the works that have gone on are scandalous.”

The committee voted to reject the application.

‘Several people interested’

CHAIRMAN of the Cheselbourne Parish Council Sue Widdowson said after the meeting that she was delighted with the outcome as the village and community had been resisting plans to turn the Rivers Arms into housing for seven years.

It was the third planning application to come forward proposing housing on the site but Mrs Widdowson claims there is still interest in running it as a pub.

She said she hopes a reasonable price can be set taking into account the work that needs to be done on the building and one of the prospective buyers comes forward.

Mrs Widdowson said: “We are hoping now someone will buy it because there are several people interested.

“It needs to be turned back into a pub.”