I UNDERSTAND from Hook Norton Brewery that they have sold The Oddfellows Arms in Chester Street, Cirencester.
Local people are surprised by this news, as the marketing seems to have been kept at a low profile.
I am also very disturbed by rumours that the pub has been bought by a developer with a view to turning it into flats.
The same developer recently converted another Cirencester pub.
The Oddfellows is one of Cirencester’s few remaining characterful back street pubs.
It is also the only remaining pub in Cirencester that has an enclosed sunny garden, suitable for children, where there is no risk of them straying onto a busy road.
This, in itself, is a great community asset.
Whilst it may not have made a huge profit, it has been a thriving family pub at the heart of the community, with great social rewards.
Once the pub has gone, it will never return.
Since The Oddfellows was bought by Hook Norton in 2007, a succession of landlords have struggled.
I believe that the brewery tied pub business model doesn’t encourage sustained investment from its tenants.
Only as a free house will the owner have the incentive and autonomy to invest for the future and see a worthwhile return.
As a backstreet pub, there has to be something special to draw in the community to their ‘best kept secret’, and this takes time and confidence to build.
So here is an opportunity for The Oddfellows to thrive again as a freehouse.
There are three other freehouses in Cirencester and they are all successful.
I hope the planning department and CDC will seriously consider the implications of any application for change of use.
Let’s not see yet another pub consigned to the history books.
RUSSELL BLACKALLER
Cirencester
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