A community buyout of a village inn at Bleddfa near Knighton will be a last resort – and will only take place if the pub remains unsold, a meeting has been told.
Forty-six people, representing most of the 50 homes in the community, attended a public meeting at Bleddfa Church last Monday night to talk about the future of the Hundred House Inn in the village.
The inn closed in November and is currently boarded up. It is on the market with Christie and Co of Bristol with an asking price of £175,000.
Lionel Pilling, who chaired the meeting, said a community buyout of the inn would be a last resort and only if the pub remains unsold.
He said a group set up to try and save the inn had been told by the estate agents that there were three or maybe four potential buyers interested, but any offers made had not been accepted.
The small community group has been in touch with other pubs where there have been village buyouts to get advice.
Mr Pilling added that a check inside the premises had found it didn’t seem to be in as bad a condition as first thought; the bar was intact and all the tables and chairs were there.
The group has had estimates for plumbing and electrical work, a new kitchen and refurbishment costs.Members of the group said they were still concerned that the premises could be worth more as a development or redevelopment site.
Mr Pilling talked about the group’s ideas for a community buyout – to form a trust or limited company and sell shares at about £250 each – but he said they would need to sell between 800 and 1,000 shares at that price. A manager would then run the inn.
Group member Malcolm Forbes said he had been in touch with Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations to see if funding was available for such a venture.
But Peter Lathbury from PAVO said he hadn’t been able to find any grant funding for such a venture. Hoever, if the group was to set up a community facility at the inn, there could be help available from the Lottery.
Other possibilities include going into partnership with a potential buyer, and adding further rooms to provide more B&B facilities.
Members of the group asked CADW if the inn could be listed to protect it from demolition, but CADW said it was not possible because there had been too many changes made to the premises over the years.
So far four people have offered a total of £18,000 towards a buyout and another person has offered to pay some of the legal bills.
The vast majority of those who turned out last Monday agreed to attend another meeting once a business plan had been prepared.
