You may be interested to sign this petition to create community right to buy for empty pubs that are Assets of Community Value.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/773816
"We call on the Government to pass a law where pubs designated as an Asset of Community Value that are empty for 6 months or more, and where the owner refuses to sell or rent out the asset at an independently assessed fair market value, automatically trigger a community right to buy at market value.
Across England, hundreds of valued pubs are protected as Assets of Community Value, yet owners can leave them closed for years and refuse fair offers to reopen them, with no duty to act in good faith. Communities risk losing their last shared space and watch listed buildings rot. We ask the Government to give communities a real right to save their pub."
Many of you will have seen this but just so everybody is informed, the C&C has been issued with an Enforcement Notice to vacate within 6 months.
Email from Laura Todd - Senior Planning Enforcement Officer at HDC
"I am writing to provide an update on my investigation at Crown and Cushion Great Gransden.
Today (15th July 2026) a planning enforcement notice was served on the owners/occupiers of the property requiring them to cease the use as a single dwelling within 6 months from date notice effective (date notice effective 19thAugust 2026).
The owners/occupiers have until the effective date to submit an appeal The Planning Inspectorate (PINS), if they do then the notice is paused until PINS make their decision, during this time there will be the option to submit comments to PINS. If an appeal is not submitted, then they must comply with the steps in the notice within the timescale given.
I shall be monitoring for an appeal and aim to provide a further update by 19thAugust 2026. If you have any questions please do let me know."
So what does this mean? The owners still do not have to sell the pub but this action by HDC closes any possibility of achieving a Change of Use in 5 years time via a Lawful Development Certificate.
Any attempt to gain a change of use by proof of non viability is blocked by the fact that Great Gransden CBS Ltd is willing to purchase the C&C as a pub subject to RICS valuation and survey.
An interesting development!
We received this from HDC Enforcement. It's encouraging that they have restarted the Enforcement investigation. We look forward to some positive action in the future.
Email from Laura Todd - Senior Planning Enforcement Officer at HDC
"
I have recently been allocated enforcement case 21/00256/ENURES at Crown and Cushion Great Gransden. To establish the current situation I have issued a Planning Contravention Notice on the owners, once I have received their response I shall review this information and agree next steps with the Planning Service Manager.
I aim to update you in 4-6 weeks once I have a confirmed course of action."
The society is the "Prefered Community Buyer" under the new ACV legislation with a right of first refusal at a price determined by a local authority appointed valuer. There will be an AGM for members of the CBS at the end of June, (tentatively the 30th with Beer etc & sausage rolls), where many of these issues can be discussed
Last week the "Community Right to Buy" received Royal Assent. This is a major step forward.
We need to keep going as the Society is the “preferred community buyer” in this new law, thus we are requesting that you now join as members of the Society.
Attached is the Membership Offer document with details of the offer and how to apply.
We plan to hold a "Members Meeting" (aka AGM) in late June where members will have the opportunity to elect new members to the committee
In anticipation of the forthcoming CBS "Membership Offer" the rules that govern Great Gransden Community Benefit Society Society Ltd now can be viewed at
https://greatgransden.com/community-ownership
These rules were based on model rules version 6 provided by Plunkett UK and are approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Other documents related to our incorporation as a CBS can be viewed at the FCA Mutuals register
https://mutuals.fca.org.uk/Search/Society/31448
Anyone wishing to become an expert in community shares can read the 100 pages of the community shares handbook!
https://www.uk.coop/resources/community-shares-handbook-cs
But possibly more readable is
https://plunkett.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Community-shares.pdf
Note an interesting factor described in these documents is the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) which gives a full 50% tax back on any investment in community shares for a qualifying organisation,
Wow, we have had a great end to the year – at last!!
We would like to thank all those that have supported the Great Gransden CBS and sent through objections, showing the commitment and passion this community holds for getting the pub reopened. Our Community efforts have helped in defeating two major planning applications, thus stopping the developers from taking away our Pub:
Both were thoroughly rejected by HDC, and we, the Great Gransden Community Benefit Society, have thanked them for supporting us, the residents and community! We can conclude that the developers professional advice paid insufficient regards to Asset of Community Value (ACV) legislation, local planning policies, case law and future developments with respect to the Localism Act 2011. These are all working in our favour?
Further activity by the developers included quietly marketing the C&C on Rightmove with "Abode Town & Country" of Royston on 5th of June 2025. Fortunately, we found it! It's difficult to follow the logic of this knowing that HDC requires proof of "robust marketing". Both Great Gransden CBS Ltd and the Parish Council became aware of this inconspicuous marketing mid September. As an Asset of Community Value, if the marketing is serious, the required process must be followed but no "Notice of Disposal" was sent to HDC as it should have been.
On 28 Sept 2025 we made an offer to buy. The agent acknowledged our offer but there has been no further correspondence. Similar reaction to our previous offers the first time around. Eventually, after prompting from HDC Community Development a "Notice of Disposal" was eventually sent to HDC on 6 Oct 2025.
We can conclude from the Statutory Declaration in the LDC application there is no real intention to actually sell the C&C but just games to achieve a CoU. We remain ready to engage with the owner/developers, should they genuinely put the C&C on the market. The existence of the CBS is a barrier to achieving a CoU by trying to comply with Local Plan Policy LP 22 e) ii.
There are two future events that will make the developers plans to achieve a CoU more difficult:
We have asked HDC Enforcement what are the next steps and of course will let you know of any replies. We have held out from making too many requests from the community, however, now is that time.
It is essential that Great Gransden CBS Ltd remains a viable organisation to support the new ACV legislation. To ensure this we need to expand CBS membership beyond the current committee. To achieve this we will launch a membership offer early in the new year. This year we made a rule change, approved by the FCA, so we can now offer basic membership at nominal price. This we hope will improve community engagement with members having voting rights and the opportunity to bring new skills to the committee ensuring smooth succession as current members complete their terms in office as required in the CBS rules.
This is not about investment shares at this stage.
Everything we are doing in the Great Gransden CBS Ltd is to help achieve our goal of getting the Crown And Cushion open!
We will be writing in the New Year with our membership offering and requesting assistance from the willing. A short briefing on Community Shares is attached.
If any of you are still wanting to submit an objection, but are wondering what to say, here is a simple point you might like to use that is factual and easy to understand. You only have until 31 Oct to add your voice.
HDC emails dated November 2022 and May 2023 state that there was no breach of planning control at that time and a breach was only identified following inspection in August 2024.
S17b of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 states in all cases the qualifying years begin with the date of the breach (sometime between May 2023 and August 2024) therefore the four years have not been achieved. Ref https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/171B
Let's make sure HDC understand that the community is engaged and passionate about this, using sheer force of numbers of objections. If we don't fight for our pub, we will lose it.
The owners of the Crown and Cushion have submitted an application for Lawful Development 25/01925/CLED that, if granted, would change the settled planning use of the pub to Residential for the rest of time, circumventing the normal request for change of use process.
For the past 4 years, the owners have stated at every challenge that they are not using the pub's downstairs area for residential use, to prevent HDC from issuing a breach of planning notice. Now the owners have submitted a Statutory Declaration that they have been using the entire property solely for residential purposes since it closed due to covid laws in March 2020, to try and qualify for the Lawful Development Certificate rules.
Hiding the actual use of a property contrary to its settled planning use from HDC and the general public may be considered concealment in planning law and could, on its own, be regarded by HDC as reason to reject the application.
We as a community need to let HDC know we are not in favour of the application by raising relevant comments against the application in significant numbers to encourage them to closely look at the evidence. If you disagree with the application, please go to HDC,s website 25/01925/CLED and take action. Action needs to be submitted by the end of October, so time is critical!
Below are some points you might like to consider if you choose to submit a comment.
Great Gransden Community Benefit Society LIMITED
Registration number: 9090