NOOKS and CORNERS
THE asset of community value (ACV) process can be a lifeline for historic pubs and hotels, allowing for a community buyout bid when breweries and pub companies are unwilling to invest. But it does have its limits.
Such venues are most likely to be saved in affluent areas where locals have funds to invest and professional skills to contribute. But it seems that mega-bucks owners can still ignore a community’s bid and let a building go to ruin.
When the Royal Hotel in Hayfield, Derbyshire, closed in 2023, locals got it registered as an ACV. Hayfield’s conservation area statement describes it as “the most distinctively Georgian building in the village”; and the Save the Royal campaign say it plays a vital role in local life and bringing tourists to the area.