West Dorset: Pub campaigners angry at dismissal of their plans (From Dorset Echo)

West Dorset: Pub campaigners angry at dismissal of their plans

CAMPAIGNERS trying to save the Old Swan in Toller Porcorum are outraged that two years after the group urged the council to buy the pub their proposals have been dismissed as ‘inadequate’.

In last week’s News West Dorset District Council leader Robert Gould said the request for compulsory purchase of the disused pub was ‘not a fully worked up proposal’.

Owner Palmers is putting the pub up for auction next month.

Outraged SOS (Save The Old Swan Group) group are demanding answers and have challenged Councillor Gould to explain his words at a village meeting.

They have also written an open letter to Coun Gould demanding to know why, after two years of silence, the council is now saying the compulsory purchase submission was flawed.

West Dorset District Council leader Robert Gould said: “When we first met the SOS Toller group we made it plain that before we would consider a compulsory purchase order it was necessary to negotiate with the owners of the Old Swan.

“That resulted in the pub being offered to the local community on a 15-year lease, with the first five years rent free.

“The SOS group decided it didn’t want to pursue that option, and instead asked us to request that Palmers offer the pub for sale on the open market.

“Palmers has now done that. We have achieved what the SOS group asked and I sincerely hope that someone comes forward to operate the Old Swan as a public house.”