A village’s only pub has been saved from closure after plans to build six homes on its car park were refused.
The Plough Inn in Ripple, near Deal, announced it was shutting in July in response to an application that would have seen its car park in Church Road relocated and replaced with homes.
The plan was put forward by Ripple Farm Ltd, the company which owns the car park which was originally built to serve the pub.
After fears customers would be left with nowhere to park, landlord Brian Davies handed in his notice and the 300-year-old pub was put on the market by its owners with a price tag of £550,000.
But later on in July, councillors on Dover District Council (DDC) voted unanimously against the proposals for homes at a planning meeting and the reasons included protecting the countryside and avoiding harm to the landscape and character of the area.
Mr Davies explained: “We put our notice in because of the planning application for the car park opposite.
“At the time, I thought ‘I’m going to end up with a pub with no car park’ if the plans went ahead, which everybody thought they would.
“Our next get-out clause on our contract was October but we have to give three months’ notice to use that clause so we had to put the notice in before the application was heard.”
When the plans were first announced, residents against the proposals feared the new-builds would lead to “chaos” on narrow country roads.
But after the plans were refused, Mr Davies said he did all he could to find a way to win the pub back.
He said: “The person who owns the pub decided they were going to close and sell it, but we then withdrew our notice and persuaded him to honour the original two years left of our contract.
“So we are open for at least another two years.
“We have had a really good reaction from the locals, they are pleased to hear we are staying.”
Although the future has been secured until 2026, Mr Davies says he is hopeful the pub will be saved beyond that.
“There is no reason why we can’t stay open after that, provided they don’t appeal against the planning because if they do, and it gets approved we are stuck,” he added.
“We are hoping we can negotiate a new lease when the time comes in two years.”
The pub was listed as an asset of community value by DDC last year.
It means it cannot be redeveloped, and villagers were given the chance to submit a bid to raise the cash to buy it.
Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.
Home to just 154 properties – including thatched cottages dating back centuries – Ripple is the second smallest village in Kent.
But the pub has proved so popular that some march for almost an hour across fields to get to it.
