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Help save the Black Horse at Amberley



Rogero

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2010
5,725
Shoreham
I received this E mail. It is a great pub and it sounds as if the recent owner was conned when selling as it was understood that the pub would carry on.
Hello again.
I was invited to an open meeting in Amberley yesterday and learnt all about developments relating to the Black Horse.

There were 16 viewings by potential new owners in a week at the BH, so Pauline told me, though the purchaser concluded the deal within just a few days. The price was based on the BH contining as a going concern and the indication was that change of use ( ie to de-license it) would not be an option.

The current owner has no intention of running the BH as a pub but wants to convert the premises into two houses. This totally contradicts all understanding about the continuing use of the premises as a public house. Needless to say the residents of Amberley are horrified and are as one in trying to make sure that Horshan Distric Council reject this application, which is going to committee on 24th August.

Whether AAMC ever returns to the Black Horse is for discussion, should it open again as a pub, but if only for old time's sake, and to support the folks in Amberley Village, please do support the campaign to keep the BH open. Here is the content of the appeal...

John

Help Save The Black Horse, Amberley

The Black Horse was never a ‘failed’ pub and there is no reason it should not continue to flourish as an important village amenity. Please help the community of Amberley prevent a developer, who has bought it, from trying to profit by turning it into houses.

A formal planning application to convert the pub into two houses has now been submitted to Horsham District Council and the closing date for objections is Friday, August 24.

As a visitor to the village, you might like to register your objection to this application, expressing your disappointment at the closure of a pub in the very heart of Amberley, which is now part of the newly-created South Downs National Park. As well as providing a convenient stopping point for those walking or cycling along the South Downs Way, it was the home for many years of the weekly gatherings of Amberley Folk Club which attracted musicians and audiences from across the world.

Many visitors chose to stop in Amberley for a meal or drink, or stay overnight in one of the B&Bs, because the village had the facilities of a centrally located pub. It appears in most guide books and its closure is impacting on other village attractions.

You can register your objection online at Planning Click on View Planning Applications and then click on public access system. Search for application references SDNP/12/01031/FUL. Where it says Stance tick the object ‘circle’ (if you are objecting), then Residential Amenity, then click the Submit button.

On the website you will also be able see the plans and shortly be able to read the representations by the Black Horse Action Group, The Amberley Society and Amberley Parish Council, all of whom strongly oppose the application.


Alternatively you can write to Hazel Corke, Planning Department, Horsham District Council, Park North, North Street, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1RL, quoting the reference numbers SDNP/12/01031/FUL and SDNP/12/01032/LIS

PLEASE OPPOSE THIS UNWELCOME APPLICATION AND HELP SAVE THIS HISTORIC PUB IN ONE OF SUSSEX’S MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES





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Tim Over Whelmed

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 24, 2007
10,252
Arundel
Get them to talk to the people of Bury, just down the road, they fought both with financial resource and a strong community spirit and still lost their pub. the Amberley community won't win unless it has a big battle wallet and some great Council connections. Sorry to be so negative but it is very likely to be the outcome.
 


jakarta

Well-known member
May 25, 2007
15,640
Sullington
To put an opposing point of view to the previous post, a village also just down the road from Amberley (Thakeham) retained their only pub (The White Lion) when exactly the same stunt was pulled by the Owner around 10 years ago.

It was shut for a while but Horsham District Council were successfully lobbied and wouldn't delicense it. Now an excellent and thriving Free House. :drink:
 


BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
Have added my objection to this campaign and the practice of de-licensing a pub to make a quick profit should be discouraged.

Whilst it may be a fruitless objection the more that do so the more the chance there is of it being successful
 






Bob!

Coffee Buyer
Jul 5, 2003
11,175
I have objected.

My mother was orn & brought up in Amberley, along with many generations of the Newell family.
 




Cuffs

New member
Jan 29, 2010
65
The people of Amberley should not try to save a pub that is not supported. What does this country lack pubs or houses?
 




Cosmic Joker

The Motorik
Apr 14, 2010
564
Chichester
The people of Amberley should not try to save a pub that is not supported. What does this country lack pubs or houses?

What? Who says the Black Horse was not supported? Did you not read the bit in the OP which says:
"The Black Horse was never a ‘failed’ pub and there is no reason it should not continue to flourish as an important village amenity. Please help the community of Amberley prevent a developer, who has bought it, from trying to profit by turning it into houses."

and also

"As well as providing a convenient stopping point for those walking or cycling along the South Downs Way, it was the home for many years of the weekly gatherings of Amberley Folk Club which attracted musicians and audiences from across the world.

Many visitors chose to stop in Amberley for a meal or drink, or stay overnight in one of the B&Bs, because the village had the facilities of a centrally located pub. It appears in most guide books and its closure is impacting on other village attractions."

In answer to your question, I would say "both", especially decent ones
 


BensGrandad

New member
Jul 13, 2003
72,015
Haywards Heath
The people of Amberley should not try to save a pub that is not supported. What does this country lack pubs or houses?

Wasn't this the point, the OP said it as well supported. I would agree to the closure of any pub that has become no longer viable but surely it is wrong to allow a developer to buy one up cheaper than the normal for the same amount of land and de-licence it and build on the land. An example of this is Royal Oak Wivlefield on the road to Ditchling which has failed again as a pub and is built on a large amount of land I would expect somebody to buy it from Enterprise Inns and then build on it and that is understandable as it hasn't traded well as a pub for a few years, but not close a pub that is trading well to build on the land. This sounds like a Bill Acher type venture.
 








jolly

New member
Aug 25, 2012
5
The BH pub was not supported by the people of the village .The
residents of the village hardly went to the pub on any regular
bases..It was always empty in the winter months. On many occasions the
pub did not have one customer all day and night.The pub had to be
subsidised by the land lady to cover cost of staying open. It was a
huge financial drain.
It was view when it went on the marked by many people interested in
running it as a restaurant and pub, but they all realised it had
little potential to be profitable.
No one wanted to buy it as a pub/restaurant.
It is now going to be houses, which is not a horrifying thing as the
village dose support development of the village .This has been
demonstrated by their huge efforts to increase housing in Amberley.
I agree more housing is what is really needed not more unprofitable
pubs .The development is a positive outcome for the building.
 


beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,392
bit confused, why would a pub as a going concern go for less than its worth as a residential property? or is it a case of it isnt cheaper unless you split it up? i wonder why something like retaining the freehold couldnt be arranged to ensure it remained a pub, if the seller felt that was important.
 










BRIGHT ON Q

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
9,133
Is that the pub that had pissers like the Goldstone ground?

***edit ...no I think that was the Bridge ***
 
Last edited:




itszamora

Go Jazz Go
Sep 21, 2003
7,282
London
The BH pub was not supported by the people of the village .The
residents of the village hardly went to the pub on any regular
bases..It was always empty in the winter months. On many occasions the
pub did not have one customer all day and night.The pub had to be
subsidised by the land lady to cover cost of staying open. It was a
huge financial drain.
It was view when it went on the marked by many people interested in
running it as a restaurant and pub, but they all realised it had
little potential to be profitable.
No one wanted to buy it as a pub/restaurant.
It is now going to be houses, which is not a horrifying thing as the
village dose support development of the village .This has been
demonstrated by their huge efforts to increase housing in Amberley.
I agree more housing is what is really needed not more unprofitable
pubs .The development is a positive outcome for the building.

You're the owner/developer, I assume?
 


sully

Dunscouting
Jul 7, 2003
7,850
Worthing
bit confused, why would a pub as a going concern go for less than its worth as a residential property? or is it a case of it isnt cheaper unless you split it up? i wonder why something like retaining the freehold couldnt be arranged to ensure it remained a pub, if the seller felt that was important.

My understanding is that, as a business, pubs are valued based on turnover, rather than the value of the land/property for development.

Like all land, the planning status determines its value. If it's got permission for housing, the value is much greater than if it's only designated for agricultural use, for instance.
 


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