From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Jack Dyson, 19 March 2022.

‘No prospect’ of historic Canterbury pub Two Doves reopening.

A historic pub that has sat empty for three years would need a £84,000 cash injection to be revived, papers show.

A fresh bid to transform the long-empty Two Doves in Nunnery Fields, Canterbury, into two houses has been launched by firm LJW Developments.

Documents lodged with Canterbury City Council reveal part of the old boozer’s ceiling has collapsed following a leak and that a potential landlord would earn just £10,000 a year in trade.

And chartered surveyor Nigel Thirkell thinks “there is no real prospect” of the tavern, which sold its first pint in 1880s, being able to trade viably again.

“The refurbishment cost (would be) in excess of £84,000 for the trade areas alone,” he explained.

“The cost of improvements to the facilities and décor cannot be justified by the potential future earnings that operators perceive possible.

“Many similar pubs have ceased trading in Canterbury and across the country because of the reduced profitability of small, wet-led businesses.

“I believe there is no real prospect of the Two Doves being able to trade in a viable manner in the foreseeable future.”

The pub has remained shut since 2019, when LJW Developments unveiled similar plans to turn it into two properties.

At the time, it was revealed the site's trading loss of £740 in 2013 rose to more than £9,100 in 2017, with its tumbling earnings blamed on its size and “inability to develop to provide a food offer”.

The local authority snubbed the scheme, before marketing company Sibley Pares put the old alehouse – which is thought to have been built in the 1800s – on the market for £425,000.

But a report compiled by estate agency worker Ned Gleave says it received no offers in the 12 months it was up for sale.

“The property continues to fall into a dilapidated state, incurring insurance, utilities and other maintenance related costs,” he said.

“A total of 11 separate enquires were received throughout the marketing period and no offers have been received to date.

“It is clear there is no demand for the property for its continued use as a public house or for alternative commercial uses.

“Meanwhile, the residential market continues to improve for which price growth has reached record levels in the same timescale.”

It received interest from two potential buyers who were considering bringing the pub back to life, while two others were looking to transform it into a takeaway or a restaurant.

But Mr Gleave says they concluded it was in an “unviable location due to low levels of passing trade” and that the cost to refurbish the building would be too high.

Meanwhile, the "Cross Keys", which is 160 metres from the Two Doves in Oaten Hill, remains boarded up as the search for a new operator enters its 14th month.

Owner Star Pubs and Bars is planning a £300,000 transformation to turn it into a “modern and quirky” inn, but it is waiting until a new licensee comes on board before beginning the rest of the work.

A spokesman for the firm told KentOnline: “We’re in discussions with a licensee interested in taking on The "Cross Keys" and hope these will come to a positive conclusion in the next few months."

From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Jack Dyson, 7 April 2022.

Canterbury protesters’ plea: keep our pubs alive.

Dozens of placard-waving pub lovers descended on a historic inn to rail against plans that would see it lost forever.

The demonstrators gathered outside the Two Doves in Nunnery Fields, Canterbury, on Saturday – shortly after firm LJW Developments lodged fresh proposals to transform it into two houses.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Canterbury pub at the weekend. Picture: Nathan Eaton-Baudains.

Outside the shut-down premises, activists wielded signs displaying messages including “beer before bedsits”, “pints over profit” and “keep our pubs alive”.

Among the protesters was Barton councillor Connie Nolan, who fears local amenities across the city “are being swept up by developers with little regard for the community”.

“Canterbury is fast-changing into a place where the needs of residents are ignored,” the Labour member explained.

“I’m very concerned the city’s streetscape is changing. This must stop.”

Katrina Maclean, who runs the "New Inn" in Havelock Street, is still holding out hope of saving the historic tavern, which dates back to the 1880s.

Emails shared with KentOnline show the landlady lodged two offers - one for £350,000 two years ago and another of £400,000 in June - for the site, but they were unsuccessful.

Cllr Nolan believes the publican will be able to turn the alehouse into a successful venture.

“I met with several neighbours on Saturday who had been loyal regulars of the Two Doves and are hoping Ms Maclean will take it over,” she added.

“Ms Maclean has factored in the cost of restoring the bar and other fittings and intends to run it as a wet pub.

“Having two pubs will improve her economy of scale when purchasing beer and other supplies.”

Cllr Nolan says she visited the old pub last May, as a group she is a member of searched for locations to house a social club.

She claims the removal of the bar fittings inside prevented the organisation from putting a bid together as it “simply couldn’t afford a major renovation as well as the asking price”.

The pub has remained shut since 2019, the year LJW unveiled similar plans to turn it into two properties.

At the time, it was revealed the site’s trading loss of £740 in 2013 rose to more than £9,100 in 2017. Its tumbling earnings were blamed on its size and “inability to develop to provide a food offer”.

The city council refused the scheme, with marketing company Sibley Pares later putting the building on the market for £425,000.

From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Jack Dyson, 25 June 2022.

Victory for Canterbury campaigners as bid to turn the Two Doves pub into homes is snubbed.

Campaigners are claiming victory after controversial plans which would have seen a historic pub lost forever were refused.

Canterbury City Council has snubbed proposals to transform the old Two Doves site in Nunnery Fields into two houses, after receiving more than 100 objections to the scheme from disgruntled locals.

"New Inn" landlady Katrina Maclean has long hoped to snap up the boozer, having lodged two offers to take the building off owner LJW Developments’ hands.

And in the wake of the local authority’s decision, the publican says she is still interested in taking over the premises - which sold its last pint three years ago.

“The developer is convinced it’ll be far more profitable for the area to put up two houses, but I’m not - I see it as an important part of our history,” Ms Maclean said.

“Just because there are a few other little pubs in the area, doesn’t mean you don’t need a small, talking pub. This side of community life needs to be kept up.

“It’s the people who live there who spearheaded the campaign to keep the Two Doves - they wanted to keep it as theirs. Pubs closing is a disaster for communities in the long term.”

New Inn landlady Katrina Maclean (left) and Labour councillor Connie Nolan (right) both campaigned to keep the pub. Picture: Nathan Eaton-Baudains.

Marketing company Sibley Pares put the old alehouse - thought to have been built in the 1800s - on the market for £425,000 last year.

In a report compiled by Sibley Pares as part of the planning application, it says no offers were received for the property in the 12 months it had been up for sale.

But KentOnline revealed earlier this year that emails showed Ms Maclean made two offers - one for £350,000 two years ago to the firm that originally marketed the site and one of £400,000 in June - for the pub.

And city council officials noted they had “concerns with respect to the marketing exercise”, as they refused the housing scheme last Friday.

“Representations made during the course of the public consultation suggest there was an interest in the site and an offer made,” they explained.

“Details of the offer have been sent through to substantiate the comments submitted.

“The marketing evidence provided fails to reference this offer, at odds with comments submitted during the consultation period of the application.

“It is considered the evidence provided fails to accurately and unambiguously demonstrate there is no need for a pub in this location, or the site could no longer be used for a community purpose.”

The authority also argued the development “would detract from the character and appearance”.

When asked about Ms Maclean’s offer last year, Sibley Pares said it had not met the asking price and that the firm’s requests for proof of funds or finance arrangements were not answered.

Without these, the company said it could not put the bid forward for consideration and, therefore, did not record it.

Responding to the city council’s verdict, Sibley Pares partner Phil Hubbard said: “Our client is obviously disappointed with the decision, especially as we are still not in receipt of a substantiated offer to purchase the property.

“The marketing evidence is not ‘inaccurate or ambiguous’ and our position remains as already advised to you with regards the ‘offer’, which has never been qualified despite our requests.”

From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Daniel Esson, 31 August 2023.

The Two Doves in Canterbury could serve pints again after development bid snubbed.

An abandoned pub which once drew customers from far and wide in its heyday could see a revival after four years.

Since being deserted, the Two Doves, on Canterbury’s outskirts, has twice survived developers’ bids to overhaul the 1880s tavern into homes.

But now a fresh lease of life could be breathed into the former Nunnery Fields venue as a landlady prepares to make her fifth offer.

Katrina Maclean, who currently heads up Canterbury’s "New Inn" in Havelock Street, explained her takeover bid has enjoyed “massive support”.

“I’ve made four offers over the last four years to buy it, and then [the owner] kept refusing to sell it to me, even though I had a valuation done which was lower than the price I’d offered.”

The owners instead offered Ms Maclean a leasehold “which was unrealistic for me to take on at the time,” she said.

“They were clearly trying to hold on to the building, they play a long waiting game, developers.”

Now that the move to convert it into two homes has been quashed again, Ms Maclean plans to negotiate another leasehold and take the tavern on.

“I’m just interested in running the business actually and I want it to be a community pub again because people around here who live in these direct roads have all contacted me over the years.

“I’ve had massive support to try and take it over.”

Katrina Maclean with former regulars outside the closed pub.

The Two Doves has been shuttered since 2019, and in both 2019 and 2022 LJW Developments lodged a plan to convert the venue into two homes.

Two applications to transform the free house were submitted in 2019, both of which the city council refused.

In the latter of the two, the planning statement tells how “for some years The Two Doves Public House has traded at a loss.

“It is small with a customer bar area of only about 50 sq m and it is awkwardly arranged, a small square room attached to a long thin room which leads to the WCs.”

When the application was rejected, developers appealed the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate and lost.

In the most recent bid from 2022, documents explain “it is believed that the property dates from the mid 19th century and has been used as a beer house and public house from the 1880s through to 2019 when it closed.”

The application was refused again by CCC in June 2022, leading to yet another appeal to the Inspectorate, which was dismissed on August 29 this year.

Philippa, who frequented the former Two Doves and lives in nearby Caledon Terrace, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I certainly drank here on a regular basis,”

Restoring the pub to its former glory matters “because it’s a community pub,” she explained.

“There’s no real pubs around here, certainly not of the sort that care about the people that live in the area whether they live or they work.

“It’s a great asset and it upsets me to think that we’ll never have this again because they’re just dying out, neighbourhood pubs are dying out.”

Local councillors for the area have also been involved in the bid to save the pub.

“Developers just see it as a piece of real estate and they’re interested in buying it and moving it on, it’s their business,” said ward councillor Connie Nolan (Lab).

“But communities are left without a place to meet and talk and as you’ve seen the people in Caledon Terrace turned out literally with a few minutes notice to celebrate the fact,” she continued.

Fellow Barton representative Cllr Paul Prentice (Lab) added: “It was a great pub 20 years ago when I was a student.

“Canterbury is lucky there are plenty of pubs here but nationally we’re losing the community pubs that are run by people that care about the pub trade and who want to see these places as assets for the community.

“They’re not just places where you have a pint, they’re the glue that binds us together, they're the meeting points and melting pots of the community where people can come along.”