New Forest council says no to Wetherspoon's pub near historic church in Lymington

St Thomas’s Church in Lymington St Thomas’s Church in Lymington

A PUB chain’s plans to open a watering hole just yards from an ancient church have been thrown out.

Wetherspoon wanted to convert a disused shop next to the 13th century St Thomas’s Church in Lymington into a drinking establishment.

But the plan sparked outrage amid fears it would change the face of the town centre and drive smaller pubs and eateries out of business.

Nearly 200 people objected to the application, including New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne and the influential pressure group, The Lymington Society.

Now councillors have called time on the controversial idea, claiming noisy revellers would make life a misery for neighbours.

Members of New Forest District Council’s planning development control committee voted unanimously to reject the plan.

Councillor Tony Swain added: “Lymington is a wonderful place and very special.

If we allow this sort of development here, the town won’t be special anymore.”

Planning bosses received a flurry of letters in the runup to the meeting, at Appletree Court in Lyndhurst, from those concerned that customers using the pub’s beer garden would upset people attending weddings, funerals and concerts at the church.

The vicar of St Thomas’s, the Reverend Peter Salisbury also attacked the scheme, claiming it would be “offensive to many people”.

Wetherspoon has always backed its plan, pointing to the awards it had won in the past for the way it ran establishments.

Comments(23)

Duncan Disorderly says...
7:43am Thu 9 Sep 10

Pure snobbery. There are many villages where the pub is next to the church.
Wetherspoons should be congratulated for planning to open pubs when so many are being closed.

Saint-Scooby says...
8:32am Thu 9 Sep 10

I dont think its a case of snobbery, Wetherspoons is a very large chain, they can sell a pint and a microwave ready meal for a lot less than normal pubs, this new pub will draw trade away from the last few remaining pubs in the town. Lymington/Pennington also has a few issues with drink and drugs abuse. not something the council are proud of

There are now two pubs in Lymington/Pennington that are closed.
The rest are struggling.

Irate Wintonian says...
8:34am Thu 9 Sep 10

Yup.
.
The village pub is as much a part of the community as the church.
.
OK, so a Wetherspoon's pub is not quite the same, but I can see no reason why they couldn't work in perfect harmony.
.
Wedding receptions and wakes would be ideal if the pub was prepared to be taken over for private functions.

News Fanatic says...
8:41am Thu 9 Sep 10

Perhaps Argos might be interested in moving in to this shop!

Para Not Normal says...
8:43am Thu 9 Sep 10

Obviously Wetherspoon's are on the ball, they saw the the social housing building development that will be happening soon in Lymington, as an opportunity in the market to feed and water the chav element that will come the development.

Now the NIMBY's, of the Lymington society will have to put up with chav's in their nice, nimby friendly, expensive pubs.

Tesco will love it, selling cheap beer to chav's to sit on the green space and benches all day drinking, at least with a Wetherspoon's in the town all the chav's would have been in one place.

Bad move stooping this, me thinks

Waiting says...
9:12am Thu 9 Sep 10

My mate Ron will be devastated, he lives next door !!!!!!!!

Ted Rogers says...
9:38am Thu 9 Sep 10

The vicar of St Thomas’s, the Reverend Peter Salisbury also attacked the scheme, claiming it would be “offensive to many people”.
`
`
`
Well I think that the indoctrination of children, salvation through fear and ignorance of scientific fact and basic mathematics is "offensive to many people".

Spot O'Bother says...
9:41am Thu 9 Sep 10

Seems strange that they want to open a new pub when there are others which are abandoned in Lymington.

Ferngully says...
9:41am Thu 9 Sep 10

Whetherspoons would have been a breath of fresh air and direct competition to the local expensive pubs. Lets hope Lymington gets another 99p or £1 shop instead then.

Derek_Smalls says...
9:47am Thu 9 Sep 10

Looks like the shop that currently occupies the site (Paltry & Kramp I think it’s called) will have to continue selling their outdated range of bric-a-brac and antimacassars. Maybe they could 'get some cans in' and install a microwave out the back in order not to miss out on this new business opportunity – trebles all round!

Elgy says...
9:50am Thu 9 Sep 10

Oh I LOVE Wetherspoons! OK they are a large pub chain with cheap food but at least their pubs (the new ones anyway) make an effort to fit into the unique communities they live in and are very nicely designed. Wetherspoons take old pub buildings and while other chains do them up without respect, they make a great effort to preserve the history. Not only this, but they support many small breweries and put pressure on the large ones to keep their prices down. Viva la Spoons!

Get it right says...
11:08am Thu 9 Sep 10

Ted Rogers wrote:
The vicar of St Thomas’s, the Reverend Peter Salisbury also attacked the scheme, claiming it would be “offensive to many people”. ` ` ` Well I think that the indoctrination of children, salvation through fear and ignorance of scientific fact and basic mathematics is "offensive to many people".
Well said.

modrocker says...
1:07pm Thu 9 Sep 10

Spoilsports! Why don't Wetherspoons use one of the abandoned pubs in Lymington instead... just a thought

Condor Man says...
1:46pm Thu 9 Sep 10

I think if Jesus was here he'd have no problem with the pub. Sadly the 'church' has sometimes become as important as the message. Jesus taught anywhere he could

Ted Rogers says...
2:07pm Thu 9 Sep 10

Condor Man wrote:
I think if Jesus was here he'd have no problem with the pub. Sadly the 'church' has sometimes become as important as the message. Jesus taught anywhere he could
The important message being....they all lived happily ever after.... Tomorrow we'll hear about a frog that was kissed and turned into a Prince!

Carries the same weight to anyone with an ounce of intelligence.

clausentum says...
2:49pm Thu 9 Sep 10

Ted Rogers wrote:
Condor Man wrote:
I think if Jesus was here he'd have no problem with the pub. Sadly the 'church' has sometimes become as important as the message. Jesus taught anywhere he could
The important message being....they all lived happily ever after.... Tomorrow we'll hear about a frog that was kissed and turned into a Prince!

Carries the same weight to anyone with an ounce of intelligence.
Watch out! Religious nuts will start calling you a Toad!

"Jesus taught anywhere he could"

Did this include the Holy Land's equivalent of Wetherspoon's?

Owl says...
6:42pm Thu 9 Sep 10

The two establishments are not so dissimilar - they both deal with spirits!

memush says...
7:24pm Thu 9 Sep 10

Shame--I think they are worried about the Pennington Mafia.

B. L. says...
8:58pm Thu 9 Sep 10

Irate Wintonian wrote:
Yup.
.
The village pub is as much a part of the community as the church.
.
OK, so a Wetherspoon's pub is not quite the same, but I can see no reason why they couldn't work in perfect harmony.
.
Wedding receptions and wakes would be ideal if the pub was prepared to be taken over for private functions.
Back in the days of yore, country and village life was simple but hard, however, whenever you looked around and saw a church spire then you knew that there was a pub/inn/alehouse close by.
It really must have helped out with congregational numbers, service at 1030, pub opens at 1100 :)

Condor Man says...
9:09pm Thu 9 Sep 10

clausentum wrote:
Ted Rogers wrote:
Condor Man wrote: I think if Jesus was here he'd have no problem with the pub. Sadly the 'church' has sometimes become as important as the message. Jesus taught anywhere he could
The important message being....they all lived happily ever after.... Tomorrow we'll hear about a frog that was kissed and turned into a Prince! Carries the same weight to anyone with an ounce of intelligence.
Watch out! Religious nuts will start calling you a Toad! "Jesus taught anywhere he could" Did this include the Holy Land's equivalent of Wetherspoon's?
If you recall one of Jesus's miracles it took place at a wedding reception, so if you took the context 2000 years forward it would likely to be in a similar place- although in this case he provided all the wine.

clausentum says...
9:23pm Thu 9 Sep 10

Condor Man wrote:
clausentum wrote:
Ted Rogers wrote:
Condor Man wrote: I think if Jesus was here he'd have no problem with the pub. Sadly the 'church' has sometimes become as important as the message. Jesus taught anywhere he could
The important message being....they all lived happily ever after.... Tomorrow we'll hear about a frog that was kissed and turned into a Prince! Carries the same weight to anyone with an ounce of intelligence.
Watch out! Religious nuts will start calling you a Toad! "Jesus taught anywhere he could" Did this include the Holy Land's equivalent of Wetherspoon's?
If you recall one of Jesus's miracles it took place at a wedding reception, so if you took the context 2000 years forward it would likely to be in a similar place- although in this case he provided all the wine.
Entertaining fluff and nonsense from the Good Ol' Book of Fables and Fairytales.

Ted Rogers says...
9:58am Fri 10 Sep 10

Condor Man wrote:
clausentum wrote:
Ted Rogers wrote:
Condor Man wrote: I think if Jesus was here he'd have no problem with the pub. Sadly the 'church' has sometimes become as important as the message. Jesus taught anywhere he could
The important message being....they all lived happily ever after.... Tomorrow we'll hear about a frog that was kissed and turned into a Prince! Carries the same weight to anyone with an ounce of intelligence.
Watch out! Religious nuts will start calling you a Toad! "Jesus taught anywhere he could" Did this include the Holy Land's equivalent of Wetherspoon's?
If you recall one of Jesus's miracles it took place at a wedding reception, so if you took the context 2000 years forward it would likely to be in a similar place- although in this case he provided all the wine.
The only real miracle is that this nonsense is still being banded around and gullible individuals are sucking it all in!

Inspectorbeaver says...
9:18pm Tue 14 Sep 10

The self representing Lymington society need bringing in to line. There are still plenty of proper locals in lymington who will welcome an affordable beer and gladly see the yachty snobs cut adrift, and there posh bistros go under. Bring on the spoons and shut the toffy nosed nimbys up. We once had several working mens pubs. Now all we have is over priced coffee shops and wine bars selling beer at £4 a pint.

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