Fight to save pub

I understand the need to build more houses in the Arun district and in my opinion Yapton has been in the forefront in providing sites to accommodate them.

Why should one of the historic village buildings being sacrificed to provide yet another site?

Many of the building programmes in the past ten years or so have been at the expense of local businesses. The village has lost a window manufacturer, printer, garage, public house, taxi office and a hairdressers among others. Now another business is under threat.

It is the only pub in Yapton that has a purpose-built dining room and a large garden with a play area where children can enjoy themselves in a safe environment. Add to this the fact that it can be reached by walking on pavements from the centre of the village without the need to drive.

One of the arguments for knocking it down is that trade has been steadily falling away over the past few years. This is understandable when the number of managers and tenants over the past year or so have nearly reached double figures. Things over the past six months have stabilised and the couple in whose hands the responsibility now lies are bringing back the customers and have started serving meals again.

So we must resist large commercial companies’ search to increase their profits at the expense of our village way of life at all costs.

With our support and that of the brewery, the decline of the village pub could be halted in one little corner of England.

Allen Misselbrook

Yapton