Hi Parish,
We wanted to update you on the situation with the Red Lion Public House and the notice of moratorium the residents received via email on the evening of 14th February 2018.
The Moratorium was received by East Cambridgeshire District Council on 16th January 2018. Interested parties only had until 27th February to register an interest as a potential bidder. The Residents Group met as swiftly as possible after the 14th but unfortunately due to the lack of time available it was impossible to collate details from Steve and Hazel (pub owners) or John and Suzanne (pub managers) and to call a village meeting with a view to investigating the appetite from the village in forming a consortium.
The Residents Group therefore decided to attempt to register an interest as a non-profit making community group in order to buy some time to look into the matter further. We are sorry to say that East Cambridgeshire District Council was unable to accept our request as the Residents Group does not fall into any of the categories that are acceptable, those being:
- A Parish Council
- A Charity
- A Community Interest Company
- A Company limited by guarantee that is non-profit distributing
- An Industrial and provident society/community benefit society that is non-profit distributing
What’s Next
As we were unsuccessful in registering an interest, The Red Lion can now be sold on the open market. Although the Residents Group were unsuccessful, we would be happy to arrange a meeting of anyone within the community, who feels they would have the necessary knowledge or interest in pursuing the possibility of setting up a consortium.
Should anyone be interested in discussing this matter further with the Residents Group, then please contact Sarah Hellowell (sarahhellowell@icloud.com) or Tracey Button (traceybutton@btinternet.com).
Many thanks
Kirtling & Upend Residents Group