Thank you so much for your support so far to Save our Sun. We’ve exceeded our wildest expectations with 785 petition signatures and 260 Facebook friends! Now we need your help to ensure your voices are heard by East Hants District Council. Some planning authorities treat a petition as just one single objection, and we can’t take the risk of being ignored. It will take you just a few minutes, and your effort will preserve the pub for years to come. Here’s what to do. Please visit the East Hants District Council planning site, and submit an objection to the planning application: http://bit.ly/1A2b5FB You will need to provide your name and address, and make it clear that you object to the planning application. In the text of your objection, it would help if you cover the three key areas that will matter to the planning committee, namely: - Community Asset: the loss of a local amenity and the breaking up of a community that stretches beyond the Bentworth Parish boundaries. - Viability of the Public House: this is a busy vibrant pub, not a struggling business. - Economic impact: loss of employment for the rural community. If you don’t have the time to write your own objection, we’ve suggested one below which you can copy and paste into the comments box. If you have any problems at all, please message us or email campaign@saveoursun.org and we’ll help you out. Thank you so much! — I wish to object to planning application 30025/003 Change of use of public house to residential dwelling and erection of detached double garage, Sun Inn, Well Lane, Bentworth, Alton GU34 5JT. The Sun Inn brings in customers from within and outside the Bentworth Parish. It is a busy pub that does not struggle to find customers in the way that some other pubs do, and the restaurant tables are frequently fully booked. Indeed, the Hampshire Association of Local Councils awarded the Sun Inn a ‘Pub as the Hub’ prize in 2014 in recognition of its success as a community asset. The loss of the Sun Inn would break up a long-standing community that serves many of the neighbouring villages: at this time, it is one of the few pubs upon which residents of Shalden, Lasham, Burkham, Bradley and the rural areas between depend for a social life. Bentworth is fortunate to have two public houses, which both thrive by diversifying their services, and the Star Inn’s focus on music attracts a different clientele from the Sun Inn’s quieter atmosphere. The loss of the Sun Inn would be detrimental to its customers and be felt hard both in Bentworth and across the local area. The economic statement confirms that substantial offers for the sale of the property as a public house have been receieved but rejected. The asking price remains well in excess of the value of comparable businesses, and to suggest that there are no potential buyers for the Sun Inn is simply not true. The economic statement also claims the pub cannot make a profit, yet acknowledges staff salaries averaging in the region of £200,000 per year, with at any one time a minimum of three salaried staff living on the premises, and typically an additional three or more part-time staff on a busy evening - a luxury enjoyed by few small village pubs. This suggests there is ample scope to streamline the business and move it back into profit as a viable long-term public house. The Star Inn, by comparison, has for many years successfully provided comparable food and drink with just two live-in staff and significantly fewer part-time employees. Nevertheless, even if there is a need to reduce costs, the loss of all these jobs through the Sun Inn’s conversion to a private dwelling would deprive the village of much-needed employment at a time when preservation of rural jobs is a policy priority for government. Whilst Hampshire is under pressure to build fresh housing stock, there is no need for another very large house in Bentworth, an area which is already characterised by large properties.