Fears that Penrith’s Agricultural Hotel could be lost to the town as a popular pub if it is sold off to the highest bidder have prompted campaigners to try and get it listed as an asset of community value.
Gary and Wendy Bowden, who have run the PFK-owned Agricultural Hotel since 2003, are due to cease trading on Sunday, 4th June, having decided after 20 years to end their lease.
PFK has yet to reveal what its plans are for the pub, which has a 42-seater restaurant and five en-suite bedrooms.
Last week, the “Aggie”, as it is known locally, was named the 2023 Eden Area Pub of the Year by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
Alan Taylor, Penrith committee member for CAMRA, said: “There is talk about it going up for auction in May, but that is just hearsay, we have not heard — officially.
“We are hoping that it is going to remain as a pub.
“This (application) is to give a little breathing space to see what happens. We have had 30 local signatures, you only have to have 21, but we have 30.”
He said the “Aggie” was a busy pub with a good business model, and a Penrith landmark for those coming into the town.
If successfully registered as an asset of community value, this would give a community group six months to make a bid to buy it if it was put up for sale.
The application, made by Mr Taylor, says the Aggie has been included in a tourist and local pub guide, which attracts more people to the pub from surrounding areas and communities, which helps boost the local economy.
It also puts the pub on the map as worthy of recognition from the council.
It has also been included in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide and is a member of CAMRA’s LocAle, which means the pub is committed to serving locally produced real ales.
The application states: “The pub has special value to local heritage and culture which should be protected.
“The pub’s heritage forms an important part of the community’s historic and cultural identity. This furthers the cultural interest of the community, as traditional pubs of architectural value are becoming rarer.
“In addition, the pub enables local people to meet and socialise in a welcoming environment which, individually, they find rewarding and enjoyable. Such social interaction is also in the interests of the locality as a whole as it encourages community cohesion and a collective sense of wellbeing.
“This hotel built of local sandstone in 1870 is well worth a visit to see one of the finest surviving Victorian shuttered and panelled serveries.
“It still has working sash screens which reach right up to the ceiling and the bar-back fitting is mainly old with some wood and modern colourful stained glass,” the application adds.
A representative of Eden District Council said: “The council has received an application for Penrith’s Agricultural Hotel to become an asset of community value.
“Given that local government reorganisation means that Eden District Council ceases to be the sovereign local authority in just two weeks’ time, on 31st March, the application will be processed and considered by the new unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness Council, after it becomes the sovereign local authority on 1st April.”
A spokesman for PFK said: “We do not wish to comment at this time.”
