Villagers’ petition to save local pub

The Suffolk-based brewery and pub operator has submitted an application for permission to build seven houses on the site of the Foresters Arms in Newthorpe, Nottinghamshire.

Protest group Save Our Foresters Arms (SOFA) said there is “no other reason than corporate greed” to make way for houses that are not a priority. A petition against the plans has been signed by more than 700 people in five days.

However, a Greene King spokeswoman said that there are no final plans as yet to sell or demolish the site.

“We are reviewing the future of the Foresters, following a drop in trade over the past few years,” the spokeswoman said. “As part of the review we have submitted a planning application for a potential residential development at the site.

“However, the pub is not on the market and we have not yet made any decision as to its future. We will continue with our review following the outcome of the planning application. If we do have to make the difficult decision to sell the site we will not place any restrictions on its future use as a public house.

“In the meantime, the pub continues to remain open for business and we look forward to serving our customers.”

SOFA member Keith Rodgers said: “There’s a lot of history behind this pub. It’s very much a community local. There are elderly people in the village who find it easy to walk there, they’ll have nowhere to go if it closes.

“It’s a decision that’s been taken in a boardroom in Suffolk by people who probably don’t even know where Newthorpe is. I can understand pubs closing because they are unviable, but this one is viable.”