The Walnut Tree, Fawley.
Due to the tenancy going into liquidation, the Walnut Tree public house in Fawley was closed at the end of November, 2003. Information obtained by contacting Brakspear during December and January 2004 was that since the business was still in the hands of the receivers nothing could be done to reopen the pub.
1) On 21st January Alfred Waller as Chairman of the Fawley Village Association wrote to the Managing Director of Brakspear, Scott Cooper, to seek clarification of Brakspear’s intentions as to the future of the Walnut Tree.
2) Mr A.P.Verey, Property Director, replied on 23rd January. In his letter he said ‘I would like to reassure you at this point that we are doing our utmost to reopen The Walnut Tree as soon as possible. We regret that the lessee of the property has gone into liquidation and we are hoping that this matter will be resolved very shortly. Thank you for alerting us to your concerns and I hope the above will go some way to reassuring both you and the village as to the future of the pub’.
3) Since there was no further communication from Brakspear, Nick Sargent as Chairman of the Parish Committee wrote a similar letter to Brakspear on 8th March. Brakspear responded on 11th March in a similar vein to their letter to Alfred Waller.
4) During March and April various calls to the pub operational manager elicited the response that recruiting of a new tenant had been delayed because of the liquidation proceedings. The previous tenant had meanwhile stated that his affairs had been wound up so there was nothing to prevent Brakspear from recruiting a new tenant. It is our understanding that Brakspear did not begin interviewing until early May. The Walnut Tree had been boarded up during March. This was followed in May by the erection of a barrier across the entrance and by the removal of the pub sign.
5) We heard from another source that a couple in Fawley had been interviewed together with three other couples. Towards the end of May through the trade we heard that the entire contents of the pub had been sold.
6) On 7th June Alfred Waller wrote to Mr Bridgman, the new Managing Director of Brakspear, expressing his concern at a rumour that the Walnut Tree had been sold. In a subsequent telephone call Mr Bridgman confirmed that the pub was being sold because Brakspear had concluded that none of the applicants for the tenancy was suitable. He said that the purchaser intended to run it as a pub with an emphasis on food. There followed a press release stating that it had been sold ‘in its planning use as a public house’.
7) The purchaser was later confirmed as Chesterton Commercial. A company search has revealed that the nature of the company’s business is civil engineering and property development.
8) The “Save the Walnut Tree Action Group” (STWTAG) was meanwhile founded comprising a number of members of the village.
9) Chesterton Commercial applied to WDC for a Change of Use and submitted plans to convert the existing pub into a single dwelling house. Details shown under Planning Application 05/05460/FUL dated 3/3/2005 - DECLINED
10) Chesterton Commercial appealed (REF. APP/K0425/A/05/1189523) and a Public Inquiry took place at WDC Town Hall on the 25th & 26th Oct. 2006 and the 7th + 13th Dec. 2006. Rennie Valentine (co. Chairman of the STWTAG) acted as the village witness – This appeal was rejected by the Planning Inspector on the 18th Jan. 2007. In his summary he valued the empty pub with it’s existing planning use at £200,000.00. Interestingly the applicant, Chesterton Commercial, valued the empty pub at £250,000.00.
The appeal failed because the applicant could not prove the pub could not be made viable.
11) A group of villagers met with the current owner on the 22/5/2008 when he expressed his sadness at seeing the pub empty and that he wanted to bring it back into use. He was given all of the background information on the existing owners, planning history and current situation.
12) The current owner asked who in the village would be prepared to invest in the venture and a list was provided to him on the 3/9/08.
13) The current owner advised he had made a personal offer to Chesterton Commercial on the 3/4/09 – this was rejected.
14) In early 2011 the Save the Walnut Tree Action Group was contacted by Jeffrey Emmett who was acting as Chesterton Commercial’s Planning Consultant to try to find a solution.
15) On the 25/3/11 he proposed an enabling development of 4 x terraced cottages and a much reduced Walnut Tree but with parking at the rear of the site. In exchange for our support, his client would build the entire development including the new 2,000 sq ft. Walnut Tree but sell this to the village for £800,000.00.
16) This was rejected given this vastly inflated valuation and the fact the Planning Inspector had valued the site at £250,000.
17) The village were then invited to make an offer for the whole site based on our support for the enabling development of 4 x terraced cottages and a much reduced Walnut Tree. This again was rejected, as we would simply be assisting in increasing the value of the site by adding our support.
18) All our communications were fed back to the current owner who confirmed on the 2/9/2011 that he had purchased the site from Chesterton Commercial for the sum of £675,000.
19) The owner then spent the next two years drawing up and discussing plans for a replacement Walnut Tree Pub but with a considerably larger footprint. Pre-Planning advice was sought with WDC, who were generally highly supportive of the proposals.
20) In July 2013, the owner advised he was putting the project on hold. He subsequently purchased the Red Lion in Hurley which underwent a huge rebuild project.
21) The owner was approached again regarding his intention for the Walnut Tree with the suggestion that the village might be minded to support some housing on the site to subsidise the re-building of the pub. The owner was very receptive to this and developed proposals with the Parish meeting, TSTWTAG and the immediate neighbours.
22) A meeting for the village was held on the 5th June 2015 to present the proposed plans. The owner, together with his Architect Jeremy Spratley, his Planning Consultant Jeff Emmett and his proposed General Manager of the new Walnut Tree, David Halliday (who now incidentally runs the Bottle and Glass at Binfield Heath and the Hart Street Tavern in Henley). The owner was passionate about bringing the village pub back to Fawley and thanked us for our support.
23) The meeting was very well attended by the village with unanimous support for the proposals.
24) A formal planning application was made to WDC (15/08511/FUL) but the application was recommended for refusal initially by the case officer. However, with the support of our Councillor, Chris Whitehead, the matter was passed to committee for consideration.
25) Although as a village we were unable to speak at the meeting, Nick Sergeant kindly agreed to bring out his vintage Bluebird bus and take a large number of villagers to the meeting at Wycombe Town Hall to offer our visual support. Although the owner declined to travel to the meeting, we were well supported by his Planning Consultant, Jeff Emmett. The committee approved the application and we were all cock a hoop.
26) Recent communication, direct to the village, from the owner/developer of the Walnut Tree, Bassam Shlewett, advises he will no longer honour his promised commitment to build the pub.
