A judge has overturned a previous ruling to declare the site of Sandhurst’s oldest pub an Asset of Community Value (ACV).  

A judgement was made that the previous ruling had been “made in error of the law” after a local community group appealed the original decision on behalf of The Rose and Crown in Sandhurst.  

The chairman of the Rose and Crown Pub Community Group (RCPCG), Adrian Russell, said: “[I’m] very glad we won. it’s been a long haul.”  

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The RCPCG had originally applied for the premises to be considered an ACV in January 2019 and it was listed as such by Bracknell Forest Council in February 2019, giving the pub protected status.

However, the owners of the pub, Punch Partnerships Ltd (PPL), successfully appealed the application so RCPCG took the case to a first-tier tribunal in January 2020.  

PPL had already built two houses on the site after a successful planning application, leaving the community fearful that the pub itself could be turned into flats. 

The Rose and Crown is well known in the area for its live music. There is an acoustic café held on a Monday for more professional people to play, as well as an open mic night on a Thursday where anyone can join in.  

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A committee member of the RCPCG, Val Goodwin-Higson, said: ““We feared that the pub would close. It’s a much-loved community pub used by all ages and all backgrounds.” 

At the hearing, the judge claimed they couldn’t find evidence that RCPCG was “a properly constituted body with a common purpose” and the RCPCG ultimately lost the appeal. 

RCPCG escalated the case to the upper-tier tribunal arguing that the first ruling was “wrong in law.”  

“We had 175 people who all had the same goal of protecting the pub. We were unanimous in our pursuit of the pub being an ACV,” Russell argued. 

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The upper-tier tribunal judge ruled in favour of RCPCG. In the decision, Judge Jones stated: " The decision of the First-tier Tribunal was made in error of law.   

I confirm the decision of [Bracknell Forest Council] to include the Pub in the list of assets of community value.”  

The judge also ordered that Bracknell Forest Council could retrieve the £4,000 in solicitor fees that they had paid to PML.