Caselaw Digest
Caselaw Digest

Andrew Tarling v Somerset Council & Anor

30 May 2024
[2024] UKFTT 442 (GRC)
First-tier Tribunal
A closed pub was nominated for special protection so a community group could buy it. The owner disagreed, saying it was too expensive to fix and not profitable. The judge decided that even though it needs work and the owner doesn't want to sell, there's a good chance a company could buy it, fix it up and make it a community pub again, so the nomination stood.

Key Facts

  • •Appeal concerning the Half Moon Inn, a Grade 2 listed pub in Horsington, Somerset, closed since October 2020.
  • •Nominated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) under the Localism Act 2011 by 'Save the Half Moon' group.
  • •Somerset Council's decision to list the pub as an ACV was appealed by the owner, Mr Tarling.
  • •The appeal hinges on whether the pub fulfilled the conditions of section 88(2) of the Localism Act 2011 regarding past and future community use.
  • •The pub had a long history of community use, including skittles, darts, and hosting events, but its fortunes declined before closure.
  • •The Save the Half Moon group argued for the pub's future use as a community asset.
  • •Mr Tarling argued against the listing, citing high repair costs, declining viability, and competition from another pub.
  • •Remarkable Pubs, a company with experience restoring historic pubs, expressed interest in acquiring the Half Moon Inn.

Legal Principles

The Tribunal considers the appeal afresh, giving appropriate weight to the local authority's views.

Paragraph 12

The approach to the appeal is not purely de novo but requires giving weight to the specialist Tribunal's views; the FTT must consider whether the authority should have decided differently.

Cook v General Medical Council [2023] EWHC 1906 (Admin) and Waltham Forest LBC v Hussain & Ors [2023] EWCA (Civ) 733

Facts are found according to the balance of probabilities; formal burden of proof not necessary.

Verlander v Devon Waste Mgt [2007] EWCA Civ 835

Section 88(2) requires assessment of past and future community use; 'recent past' is context-dependent.

Section 88(2), Localism Act 2011; Paragraphs 17-20

For future use, it must be realistic, not necessarily likely, that the property could further community wellbeing within the next 5 years.

Gullivers Bowls Club Ltd v Rother District Council and Worthy Developments Ltd v Forest of Dean District Council and Anor; R. (TV Harrison CIC) v Leeds School Sports Association [2022] EWHC 130 (Admin)

Landowner's views are relevant but not decisive; the statutory scheme would be undermined if listing could be resisted solely by a landowner's refusal.

Paragraph 29

Outcomes

Appeal dismissed.

The Tribunal found that the Half Moon Inn met the criteria for ACV under section 88(2) of the Localism Act 2011, both in terms of past and future community use. Despite challenges regarding viability and repair costs, the potential for future community use by a new operator (such as Remarkable Pubs) was deemed realistic within the five-year timeframe.

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