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Every week 39 pubs shut down. Petrol stations lie abandoned. Post Offices are closing. But as Miles Brignall reports, community companies may be the answer
From the far north of Scotland to the western tip of Cornwall, a quiet revolution is taking place. Britons, no longer prepared to take the closure of a community's essential amenities lying down, are joining forces to take them back into local ownership.
Pubs that had lain empty for several months are being brought back to life by villagers. Stores that closed down after no buyer could be found are reopening as community-owned co-ops. And in some villages they have even got together to reopen their local petrol stations through limited-liability community companies.
Welcome to the fast-expanding world of the not-for-profit community buyout, which in most cases is funded by local people, putting up their own money and taking shares in any profit.
The Plunkett Foundation estimates there are now close to 200 community-owned rural shops in the UK, with four new ventures opening this month alone. The latest, in Feckenham, Worcestershire, will be opened today by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith. Pubs that looked destined never to reopen are being dragged back to life - sold off by struggling pub chains desperate to improve their balance sheets.
The fightback is long overdue. The Rural Shops Alliance said this week that up to 1,000 small stores could close on the back of the Post Office's cull of 2,500 of its offices - this on top of a raft of closures in previous years
The British Beer & Pub Association says the combination of high taxes and low supermarket prices is resulting in 39 pubs closing each week. It says closures are no longer the preserve of rural areas. Most recent failures are taking place in urban or semi-urban areas - in some cases, across the road or next door to the closing post office.
Ironically, the credit crisis is helping community groups buy back local amenities. In the face of falling property prices, landlords, who in the past were reluctant to sell properties, are now accepting reasonable offers.
Planning authorities appear to have woken up to the fact that pubs, stores and even filling stations can play a vital part in community life. They have recently been less likely to allow change-of-use applications allowing owners to cash in on high house prices - particularly when faced by a sustained local campaign. Campaign group the Pub is the Hub says it has seen a "noticeable jump" in enquiries from community groups in recent months. The fight back is just beginning.
The pub
Like many of those who live in the remote village of Birgham in the Scottish borders, Kevin Mills, pictured above, struggles to get a booking for a table in his local pub. Given that he was one of the villagers that saved it from being turned into a house, and that he now owns a share of the building, you might think he'd be a tad upset, but not at all. "If I can't get a table, I can't get too annoyed because it means the pub's full. I just think I'll have to book a bit earlier next time," he says.
The story of the recently reopened Fisherman's Arms, near Coldstream, is a tale to warm even the coldest heart. A year and half ago it had closed for what seemed the last time, apparently destined to follow thousands of other pubs around the country and be turned into residential property.
The village was about to lose its focal point. That was, until the residents - coming from just 62 homes - decided to act.
Today, the pub is entering its fourth month of trading, and its success has exceeded the community's wildest hopes. The restaurant is so popular that on some Sundays it serves 100 covers from its small kitchen. And it's all due to a community buyout, and the hard work of all concerned.
"It has been a dream story," says Mills who, prior to helping the scheme get off the ground, freely admits he had no experience of pubs or catering, other than as a consumer.
"The pub had been allowed to run down and hadn't been a success for some time. The couple who owned it had applied to the authorities to turn it into a house, which is when we launched our campaign."
He says a survey of the community found incredibly strong support for retaining the pub. "There were 111 objections to the Scottish Borders Council, which is not bad considering there are only 62 houses in Birgham. The village really has nothing else - no shops and a dilapidated hall. But the campaign really brought people together, some of whom hadn't even spoken to one another before."
Between them, they came up with a plan to put together a consortium and a deal was a struck at £150,000. In the end, 23 shareholders came forward to buy the place, which they agreed would be leased to a tenant who would run the business. The group set about upgrading the building, installing new central heating together with a complete redesign.
"We knew very early on that we didn't want to run it ourselves - not least because none of us had any experience," Mills admits. "The key was finding the right tenant. If I'm honest, I was utterly amazed at the support and the response of the community who all helped turn it around."
After several months of hard work the pub reopened early last December just in time to catch the Christmas trade. Mills says it has been a huge success. "People are coming from far and wide, drawn by great food, the atmosphere of a traditional local with great ales."
He has huge praise for the people who now run it as their own business - especially the landlady, Pauline. No one gets free drinks, and shareholders who want bookings have to take their chances along with the locals and the fishermen who flock to the nearby Tweed.
Meanwhile, he says the shareholders - who are paid a return on the money they invested - are currently getting more than they would if they had money in the bank. "With savings rates currently so low, it's actually turned out to be a good move, although that was our last thought when we set it up," he adds.
The post office
When the 150-year-old post office and general store in the Hertfordshire village of Tewin closed in May 2007 with just a week's notice, it's fair to say its prospects were not good.
Two miles from the Welwyn Garden City branch of John Lewis, the village - population 1,400 - could easily have followed so many others in the south-east and ended up as a satellite to a nearby, much bigger, urban community.
The opposite has happened, however. The village shop has just celebrated its first birthday since reopening as a community-owned, not-for-profit enterprise. It is now staffed by 60 local volunteers, and is thriving.
The post office is open for business once more, serving customers five mornings a week, and the organisers are now planning to convert an unused storeroom into a cafe and community area - if they can raise some more funding.
"Getting the shop going again has undoubtedly brought the community together," says one of the villagers behind its rebirth, Eleanor Lohr.
"We've had a shop in the village for well over a century, so it was a disaster when it closed suddenly. When 150 people turned up to a meeting to discuss its demise, it was clear it was worth saving," she says.
On the advice of the Rural Community Shops association - now called the Plunkett Foundation - the villagers formed an industrial and provident society to manage the shop. They received a grant of £12,000, took out a loan for a further £12,000 from a social lender, Co-operative & Community Finance, and then the villagers themselves came up with the same amount through various fundraising schemes. "Everyone was soon pitching in to help refit and decorate the store. I was astonished by all the goodwill we received. People were coming over and painting walls, and within nine months the store was up and running again."
Lohr says they were lucky to have the help of the "much-loved" former postmaster who came out of retirement to reactivate the post office. It was his retirement that had prompted its sale and subsequent demise.
The couple who bought it lacked experience in that line of business, and it was under their stewardship that it had started to struggle.
Today four volunteers drawn from the community man the shop daily, which has a part-time paid manager.
No credit is allowed to anyone, even those who work there. Last summer, the staff ran an outdoor tea garden and preparations are already underway for this year's season.
The great thing, says Lohr, is that older people who would otherwise have had to rely on a very limited bus service to reach shops now have basic facilities on their doorstep.
"We now sell a mix of items - some cheaper, some a bit more upmarket - including some locally produced foods, particularly our ham. Our former postmaster has been a great help. He was able to help us choose the best selling stock, and having the post office going again has been a real boon.
"The great thing about it is that the store really buzzes. If you just pop in to pick up a few necessities you almost invariably come out with a smile on your face. How often does that happen anywhere else?" she asks.
The filling station
Applecross in north west Scotland is perhaps Britain's most remote mainland community. Until the 1970s it could only be reached on a single-track road across the highest mountain pass in the country. It's an arduous 40-mile round-trip to the next petrol station, so when villagers found out last year that their local garage, pictured below, was about to shut, the community sw ung into action.
Thousands of petrol stations have closed in recent years – as many in urban as rural areas – defeated by tiny profi t margins and competition from cheap supermarket operators. At abandoned garages, hoardings promise luxury flats – unlikely now amid the unfolding property crash – and many are fast becoming eyesores where weeds crack the concrete and graffiti covers ugly fencing.
But in Applecross, Alison Macleod was determined not to lose a facility that both villagers and visitors regard as vital. The settlement has just 182 people registered on the electoral roll, yet 110 have signed up to become members of the Applecross Community Company, which runs the pumps.
It is a brave commercial venture for a small community. Petrol stations need large amounts of cash upfront to run. The minimum order the community can make for a road tanker delivery is 5,000 litres. The pumps are expensive to maintain and replace. A feasibility study identified £4,000-worth of urgently
needed repairs.
Macleod is chairwoman of the company. "The station had been run by the owner of the shop opposite the pumps,but he said it was losing money and he could not aff ord to run it any longer. "We went through a period of discussion in the village, and eventually decided to set up a community company under the Land Reform Act of 2003. We had an AGM in June
and elected a board. From the start we agreed that we had to do this in a businesslike way."
Finding the cash for the pump repairs was the first challenge. The community organised a fundraising walk from Applecross to the next petrol station, 18.9 miles away across the spectacular Bealach na Ba single-track road, through some of the most dramatic scenery in the Highlands. They raised nearly £5,000 in ticket sales at the local pub, the Applecross Inn, and the company was in business. On 29 November last year the filling station opened under the new company, and is now off ering petrol at 99.9p a litre – which, in the Highlands, is a pretty good deal. "I'd say it's covering its costs. But we can't afford to lose loads of money on this," says Macleod.
Commercial liability is a crucial issue for communities taking on risky businesses. Despite the enthusiasm for the project, Macleod acknowledges that some villagers still choose to fill up at Tesco on shopping trips to Inverness. But she, and the other members of the company, are personally liable for just £1. "And if we make any money, it will be ploughed back into the village."
Maybe it will, indeed, be profitable. Applecross is the home to Monty Hall's Great Escape series currently showing on BBC2, which has already sparked a rise in visitors to the village, and the community is anticipating a bumper summer season. But Macleod knows there are major challenges ahead. At some point the elderly pumps will need to be replaced at a cost of £80,000, and she has already started applying for grants from organisations such as the National Lottery and Scottish Enterprise.
And now that the pumps are flowing, Macleod is focusing on her other project, rescuing Raasay House, an 18th-century laird's mansion that fell
into dilapidation. It's a multi-million pound project, but this community
entrepreneur is undaunted, despite a recent fire. And if you fancy some
delicious prawns caught locally by her husband, she says, just come knocking on her door in Applecross.
The village shop
The village of Witherslack, in the southern part of the Lake District, has led the way in community buyout schemes. Not content with having restored the local pub a few years ago, the villagers have just raised over £30,000 to build a shop, in an annexe to the pub. The store now specialises in selling locally produced meats alongside more basic essentials. Next, they are planning a development of affordable homes. Steph Fry, a local parish councillor and one of those behind the scheme, says it was the affordable homes project that initially brought the community together, but that the shop and pub developments have "really galvanised" the village.
"Our first big milestone was to rescue the pub – the Derby Arms – which
had been shut for over two-and-a-half years. We got together and local people provided enough fi nance to cover a bridging loan to buy it for £300,000 from Punch Taverns. We were lucky enough to find a brilliant guy to run it on a long-term lease.
"Our next problem was that the village shop and post office closed down
when the person who ran it retired. After the success of the pub, there was a real will among the community to get it going again," she says.
The village raised £30,000 by selling shares in a scheme, which were bought by 125 villagers. Everyone helped do up the store, which now stocks meat produced on nearby farms as well as other locally produced foods such as jams, as well as organic and Fairtrade products. The store operates with three paid, part-time managers who do the work of one as a job share, as well as volunteers . The space was created by skilled local builders and craftsmen. Fry 's advice to anyone thinking of trying to revive a collapsed store or pub in their community, is to go for it.
How to revive your local community hub
There is plenty of help and advice for communities hoping to buy out a much-loved local facility. The Plunkett Foundation, formerly the Rural Community Shops association, has developed a business model specifically for resurrecting a rural store. Contact it at 01993 810730 or at The Plunkett Foundation - Home page. The Rural Shops Alliance will also help. The Pub is the Hub, set up in 2001 by the Prince of Wales, encourages breweries, publicans and communities to work together to help retain and enhance rural pubs. There is lots of advice at www.PubIsTheHub.org.uk, or call 01423 568987. The British Beer & Pub Association is on 020 7627 9191.
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