19th July 2007

Planning Services Area 4

South Cambridgeshire District Council

Cambourne

CAMBRIDGE

CB23  6EA

Dear Sirs

S/1233/07/F Change of Use Class at “The Hoops” Great Eversden.

The Parish Council wishes to register its opposition to this proposal in the strongest terms. It also criticises the so called marketing report as containing several errors of fact amongst the more important of which are:

1.      That it has traded successfully as a pub and restaurant in the period between 2002 and 2004 and the accounts to show this are available.

2.      The landlords at that time wished to purchase the pub but the owner wanted such a high price that it ruled out the possibility of a viable enterprise.

3.      It is in the interests of the present application that it should be shown as not viable. However, the way to make it viable was spelled out to the applicant by the Parish Council in a recent letter. The applicant was, however, not interested and promptly put up a poster advertising the arrival of a Chinese restaurant. It did not materialise though its banner remains.

4.      Much is made of the idea of a failing restaurant. The failure is entirely attributable to the behaviour of the most recent landlord and to the limited attraction of the menu. A pub must offer what its customers wish to eat and drink in an ambience in which they wish to consume it. The landlords in 2. above managed this very well, were denied their reasonable wish to continue as owners and have gone away to run another successful pub/restaurant in Great Abington..

5.      The Parish Council was a month or two ago asked to list the number of voluntary organisations in the two villages. After the list got to 21 in a couple of minutes the compiler stopped counting. This level of activity shows very clearly that these two villages, far from being the semi-moribund backwater that is suggested by Paragraph 3.4 of the Design and Access Statement is in fact extremely lively and active and full of potential customers for the pub re-opened under proper management.

6.      It is the Parish Council's view that the failing restaurant described in para 3.10 need never have happened had the management seen fit to listen to their market. They chose not to and the suspicion is abroad that this choice was at the very least coloured by the planning gain possible from conversion into a house - with the possibility of a second house in the car park.

7.      It has not escaped the Parish Council's notice that the average level of enquiries at 4.69 per month is actually increasing at present. Running a nice manageable country pub & restaurant is an attractive proposition especially in what estate agents routinely describe as a most desirable and much sought-after village.

8.      Neither can it be denied that in an increasingly affluent society the demand is rising for good places to eat out. Deliberately to shut one down is, in this Council's view, an unfriendly act.

9.      Finally the name of the building is “The Hoops”. It has been for centuries and such is displayed on its sign board. References to the “Golden Elephant” do not encourage interest.

Yours faithfully

J C P Dalton, Chairman