York steps in to protect ‘remote’ 18th century pub after tenant quits
A York village pub has been granted extra protection against closure after parish councillors stepped in.
Members of Acaster Malbis Parish Council submitted an application to list The Ship Inn as an asset of community value.
The pub’s tenant has handed in his notice to the pub’s owner, Enterprise Inns, which is now the Stonegate Group.
The 18th century riverside building is grade-II listed and originally served as a pub for bargees.
An asset of community value (ACV) is land or property of importance to a local community which is subject to additional protection from development under the Localism Act 2011.
The local community will be informed if the pub is put up for sale, with residents then able to enact the community right to bid, which gives them a moratorium period of six months to determine if they can raise cash to buy it instead.
Parish council clerk Craig Booth said getting the pub listed as an ACV was a “protective measure”.
The pub has had several different tenants since it was bought by the pub chain in 2000 and has on occasion been closed for months at a time when it has been without a tenant.
Mr Booth added: “These are uncertain times. You just don’t know if someone’s going to take the risk of becoming a tenant.
“It’s a protective measure in case they couldn’t get a tenant and it was just empty and Enterprise decided to sell the property, because that would leave us high and dry with nothing for us.
“It’s four miles from York but it’s quite remote. There’s nothing here apart from the Memorial Hall, which is a small village hall – and that’s it.”
Seasonal popularity
The pub’s popularity is seasonal, when it benefits from the custom from nearby campsites and river cruisers.
The pub is next to the River Ouse and periods of flooding have caused it to temporarily close in the past.
Enterprise Inns were informed of the parish council’s application but did not make any comment on the matter to City of York Council.
There is an advert for a new tenant on the company’s website, which notes that it has “a great reputation for real ale and home-cooked food and now benefits from six fantastic newly refurbished letting bedrooms”, adding that it requires a “skilled” publican.
Mr Booth said he was “very pleased” after the York council’s executive member for finance and major projects, Cllr Nigel Ayre, rubber-stamped the ACV listing.
He added: “It gives us a bit of reassurance that if the worst came to the worst, we’ve got a chance to do something for ourselves – standing on our own feet and getting a pub how we want it.”