The Bell, Odiham: Residents rally round to save inn from being turned into housing

As previously, reported The Bell pub in Odiham, which was originally licensed in 1509 and is one of the oldest pubs in Hampshire, was sold to Carlin Capital when the previous owners retired.

The pub was available for sale for more than two years but with no buyers developers are asking Hart District Council for planning permission to convert the pub into three houses.

SEE ALSO: Historic pub could be turned into housing if community don't find enough funds to save it

The Bell Pub (Image: Cllr Helen Tyler)

Since then officers agreed to freeze the application and give the community three months to buy the pub back.

In 2021 parish councillor Kathryn Ball led a campaign to save The Bell and 350 residents signed a petition to retain it as a pub. It was also registered as an asset of community value.

Cllr Helen Tyler from Odiham Parish Council told the Gazette that the pub can still be saved.

She said previously: “We are looking for people to pledge to buy shares (£200 each) by September 21. Once we have enough, we will negotiate a price with the developer."

Since then Cllr Tyler confirmed the campaign has so far recieved 159 pledges ranging in value between £200 - £10,000.

She said: "We had a great day at Odiham FlavourFest. Lots of visitors came to chat to us. We raised £4,000 in pledges and have 30 new friends of The Bell on the distribution list. We are nearly 20 per cent toward our goal. 

"We received our first pledge from a friend of The Bell from Sydney, Australia. Phil was stationed at RAF Odiham, and his son had his 18th birthday in The Bell. Lots of happy memories."

The property is currently advertised for sale on Carlin Capital's website for offers starting at £500,000.

Cllr Tyler said that if the council approves the developers plans it is likely that they would stop advertising the pub for sale. 

READ MORE: Councillors say no to plans that would see more than 17,000 houses built in Basingstoke and Deane

A spokesperson from Carlin Capital previously added: "This beautiful old property was on the market for quite some time before our purchase with no approach from the local community or any publicans or breweries. Unfortunately due to its state of repair and significant remedial work needed, the investment required, for what was not a viable concern, is a sad a reflection of the current situation across the UK as the traditional/historic ‘pub culture’ has evolved and of course on the back of a global pandemic. 

"We are committed to ensuring the heritage feature of this historic building is preserved for generations to come, in a format that will support the local community and its families. It is too often seen that such buildings no longer evolve with their communities and fall to such an ill state of repair they have no future, we very much want to avoid that happening here and that is why a sympathetic change of use is the ideal situation."

The developer has since requested to meet with Cllr Tyler.

Odiham Parish Council also agreed at a meeting on Tuesday, August 16 to support the campaign.