Blog: Neenton project turns locals into regulars

For decades, the face of rural villages has been changing: post offices, village shops, schools and pubs have been vanishing from the landscape.  And as they close, a little piece of the community goes with them.  Churches have remained at the heart of many communities, but they are under pressure too.

And when all those facilities have gone, what remains to keep a community connected?

Do they simply become dormitories for commuters?

Faced with this all-too-common scenario, the people of Neenton decided to take action. The village pub had closed and, apart from the church, it was the only building left that hadn’t yet been converted into a house.  John Pickup, Chair of Neenton Parish Meeting, explains:

“In late 2010, with the pub falling into decay following a burst water tank which had rendered it uninhabitable, it became clear this last hope for sustaining some community life was eventually going to be lost unless we did something.  A survey of residents in 2007 showed not just a strong desire to see the pub reopen, but also a feeling that additional housing would help secure a future for the village, especially homes for local people.  This was the spark that set us on our way.

“Our local Shropshire Councillor Robert Tindall opened negotiations with the owner and arranged a meeting of key people from the council who could help.  And help they most certainly did: Chris Edwards, Jake Berriman, and Councillor Gwilym Butler, Cabinet member for flourishing Shropshire communities, all saw the sense and potential in funding the acquisition and restoration of the pub as a community ‘hub’ through a housing development on the land belonging to it, including some affordable for local people.  Paul Sutton from South Shropshire Housing Association was equally positive that this could be an approach they could replicate elsewhere to deliver affordable housing and help regenerate communities.”

Robert Tindall takes up the story:

“When I was first approached by John, I went through the usual process of thinking about grants and bids, before realising that in order to get this done we would probably need a different approach.  For good or ill we have moved away from the grant culture at Shropshire Council, and we’ve had to be more creative about how we can support John and the community to realise their ambitions for themselves.  Shropshire Council has adopted the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), and that enables us to create funds from development that stay in the local community for their benefit.  Could Neenton provide a working example of the CIL in action?  We decided to ask the planners for some advice. They asked how strongly the whole community felt about reopening the pub, as there might be a way to fund the project.  If everyone supported the idea, we could use a community planning decision to allow some residential development in the village, both open market and the much-needed affordable housing that we know the village has been asking for.  We’ve also been working closely with the Shropshire Housing Group and we’re making good progress.”

Paul Sutton, Executive Director at SSHA, part of Shropshire Housing Group, explains his organisation’s involvement:

“Neenton is one of five new community-led schemes that we are working on in the area to ensure affordable homes are available for local people.  The Homes and Communities Agency awarded us £1.3m for these five projects.  Neenton is particularly special as the grant awarded is less than £40,000, so we have worked by selling open market homes. The profits from these sales will be gifted back to the community to fund the acquisition and part refurbishment of the pub. We’ve developed a good working relationship with the community.  This project shows how communities can take control of their issues and work with us to solve them.”

A final word from John Pickup:

 “This isn’t just about reopening a pub: it’s about giving Neenton a new and sustainable future based on a building and business it will own – providing a community room, bringing jobs and spend into the area, and helping restore the Neenton Conservation Area which is on the English Heritage ‘At Risk’ register.  What’s been so vital in getting the whole village behind this very ambitious project has been the clear desire from everyone at Shropshire Council and SSHA to find a way of making this work – because it makes such good sense as a community-led idea.  We’ve still a long way to go, but with that ‘can do’ attitude we’re going to get there.”

The Neenton project has now received a unanimous resolution to grant consent subject to legal agreement taking the community pub one step nearer to reality.

If you’d like to learn more about the Community Infrastructure Levy click here.