A group of residents in a tiny Fenland village have banded together to try to save their local pub. 

Around 30 people who live in Turves have set up a residents’ association in order to formalise their efforts to stop The Three Horseshoes pub on March Road from being demolished. 

Chairman Stephen Goldspink explained that the new Turves and District Residents’ Association (TDRA) has applied to Fenland District Council (FDC) to have the pub designated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

ACV status can be taken into consideration by a local authority when it considers planning applications and can also trigger a six month pause in proceedings if a community group wishes to buy the asset. 

Mr Goldspink says TDRA is “currently exploring an alliance” with the Plunkett Foundation charity which has experience of such sales. 

The owners of The Three Horseshoes applied to FDC to demolish the building and replace it with five new houses. 

Agents Morton & Hall Consulting say this follows “considerable marketing of the pub”. 

But Mr Goldspink says the pub, which dates back more than 150 years, is all the residents of Turves have. 

“We’ve got no mains gas, we’ve got no mains water, we’ve got no bus, we’ve got no train stop, we’ve got no shop, we’ve got no community hall, we’ve got nothing,” he said. 

“The only thing we’ve got is that pub. Now the owners want to knock it down and leave us with a full set of nothing.”

The planning application to demolish the pub has attracted around 40 public comments, with residents in Turves and surrounding villages highlighting how few services residents in the area have. 

“To demolish the pub would be an abomination, ruining the history of the village,” one wrote. “Who wants to live in a village just comprising of houses and nothing else!”

“This is an 1860 building; five generations of my family have used this place at some point as they lived in Turves,” another added. “My mother tells me stories of walking from Sunday school to the pub for a pop. It should be listed.”

“Turves is just a collection of houses,” another says. “I feel the pub could again be the life blood of the village.” 

Commenters say the pub has held bar quizzes, live music nights and Sunday roasts in the past and has been used as a polling station. 

But others say the pub is “falling apart” and will only “slowly become more and more derelict” if it isn’t knocked down. 

“It was once a thriving business, but as residents of Turves have moved away there is such a small percentage that use it now,” one wrote. 

“Private individuals should NOT be held responsible for providing a community space for the village; that should be down to the local council,” another added. 

FDC is yet to consider the application to demolish the pub.

It will also have to consider whether to designate it an AVC after TDRA’s request. 

Mr Goldspink says that, although the residents’ association has been established to save the pub, he can see it doing more than that. 

“I can see it going further than just the pub,” he said. “I can see it becoming a permanent vehicle for us to make things happen in the village.” 

The first challenge it will face, though, is finding a permanent meeting spot as there are no community buildings in Turves.

Mr Goldspink admitted the group is “probably not welcome” in The Three Horseshoes.