Tintern residents fight to re-open their local pub

A petition of 323 signatures and other letters of objection were delivered to the council urging it to sell the Cherry Tree pub on to another landlord after a change of use application was lodged with the Welsh council of Monmouthshire.

A statement on a forum for Friends of the Cherry Tree reads: “On 6 December 2010, without warning, the present owners of The Cherry Tree Inn in Tintern, Monmouthshire walked out of their home and business and locked the doors behind them.

“Those doors have remained firmly closed every since and a 'change of use from public house' application recently submitted to the local council now threatens the prospect of them ever reopening.

“The Cherry has been serving ales and ciders to the good folk of the beautiful Angiddy Valley for the last four centuries. We - the locals - have set up this website to highlight the plight of our precious local and to provide a conduit through which to fight this aggressive assault on our community.

“We will not allow The Cherry to be lost on our watch.”

No buyer​

The owners of the pub, voted one of the top 10 pubs in England and Wales by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), had struggled to find a buyer after putting it up for sale in 2004, reducing the asking price from £560,000 to £400,000.

In his application, owner Stephen Pocock wrote: “The Cherry Tree has been struggling to survive financially for a number of years and it finally closed in December 2010.

“[Since 2006] it has been put on the market and although it has been viewed on many occasions there have been no firm offers.”

The council’s planning committee is due to make a decision on the application on 16 August.