During a recent constituency visit Julian Smith met with members of the Burton in Londsdale community regarding acquisition of the local pub - The Punch Bowl - which is facing permanent closure.
The community has said they wish to bring the community's last remaining pub into community ownership. The community need to raise a minimum of £275,000 to buy the pub not including any refurbishment or stocks.
The original business plan was based on an application for £300,000 from Community Ownership Fund (COF) - a £150 million government fund over 4 years to support community groups across the UK to take ownership of assets that are at risk of being lost to the community. £250,000 of that funding would be used to purchase the Punch Bowl Inn and £50,000 would be used for revenue funding. On that basis, the community would have needed a minimum of £65,000 in Share Funding from the 570 residents.
However, when the COF was suspended, the community was forced to re-write its business plan. The new business plan, assuming no COF grant, now requires £275,000 minimum share funding. So far the community has raised over £115,000 - 41 per cent of the total.
Julian has supported the communities' efforts to gain access to the COF and will continue to do so as they have worked hard and been successful in getting funding from the local community.
Commenting on this meeting Julian said, "The community campaign to acquire the pub in Burton in Lonsdale is highly impressive. I will continue to support the campaign in any way I can and am confident beer will be following in Burton again very soon".
