A PUB that was bought by residents after a 12-year planning wrangle is now seeking a new tenant to run it.
The Travellers Rest in Skeeby, Richmondshire, closed in the summer of 2008 and so began a community campaign lasting more than a decade as local residents repeatedly tried to buy it.
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The Skeeby Community Pub Society (SCPS) was formed to raise funds and fight a change of use planning application which would have seen the historic pub turned into housing.
This January, the group announced they had been successful in their purchase of the pub after 12-years.
It is now under full community ownership and undergoing an extensive refurbishment programme before a new landlord will take over its running.
At present, the new bar and lounge areas are being constructed and fitted out with new equipment.
New toilets and cellar facilities will also be provided along with a well-equipped kitchen.
The pub also benefits from a large garden giving scope for Al Fresco dining along with a garden room.
The tenant’s first floor, two-bedroom accommodation will also be fully refurbished.
A SCPS spokesman said: "The Travellers Rest will be far more than an ordinary village pub; it will once again be the centre of village life and could host such amenities as a village library and selling local produce.
"It the intention of the Skeeby Community Pub Society (SCPS) that the new landlord will work closely with, and in support of other local businesses and community facilities in the area, in particular the village hall and Parish Council.
"Once the refurbishment is completed and a tenant has been appointed, the SCPS will continue to support the tenant to develop the business from a standing start to a thriving pub.
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"The SCPS anticipate that the tenants will develop a programme of village activities at the pub and also attract visitors to the Yorkshire Dales who come to eat at the pub, drink good quality ales and enjoy the fine surrounding areas.
"The pub will provide a venue for traditional pub sports and activities, local events and celebrations, music and culture.
"With a village population of only around 400 people, the Travellers Rest also needs to attract regular visitors from nearby Richmond and Catterick Garrison."
The appointed tenant will enter into a free of tie lease agreement with SCPS.
The lease will be for five years, and then renewable after that on agreeable terms.
The SCPS forecast that the business can achieve a fair maintainable trade of around £180,000 per annum once open and established as a thriving pub, selling local ales and good quality food, using local suppliers wherever possible.
The proposed rent is set at an initial £15,000 per annum, which will increase annually to a maximum of ten per cent of sales or £18,000 whichever is the greater after four years.
Prospective tenants can find out more details and submit an application at thetravellersrestskeeby.co.uk
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