A COMMUNITY PUB & HUB FOR EVERYONE
Once a thriving local pub, we want to bring it back to life, under a community ownership programme, to be a valuable asset to the surrounding area
We are the Aldershot Community Pub Ltd, a small community group passionate
about saving our traditional pub in Aldershot, Hampshire
The White Lion was a thriving local pub and many people are concerned about losing it to housing development.
The building has been bought by a developer and we have already fought to get an initial planning application REFUSED and are currently fighting a second application.
Over the last few years, we have already lost all of these locals just in this part of town: La Fontaine, The Wheelwright Arms, The Prince Albert, The Heron, The Queens Head, The Heroes of Lucknow, The White Swan, The Beehive, The Prince of Wales, The Lord Clyde, plus others.
These are all now shops, houses or flats.
Soon we will have nowhere left to meet within walking distance of our homes and it will soon be too late to do anything about it.
Have your say now and add your weight to the evidence that there’s a real demand to keep this pub open. You don’t need to be a White Lion customer or even a regular pub-goer, your support in this venture would be valued.
In Brief.......
In May 2019 the freehold of the White Lion was advertised online with a guide price of £270,000. The advert stated that Triple FFF brewery had declared their intention to vacate the location when their lease expired in 2020 and that a change of use may be possible. By the start of July 2019 it was widely rumoured that the pub had been purchased with a view to turning it into an Indian restaurant.
On November 15th 2019 Rushmoor Council were formally notified that the owner wished to sell the White Lion. Under the terms of the Asset of Community Value legislation this allowed the community until December 27th to prove there was a serious intent to bid. Notice of intention to bid was served in the run up to Christmas. Aldershot Civic Society and the local CAMRA branch held a public meeting at the pub on January 23rd 2020 to see whether there was sufficient local interest to fully investigate a community bid. A successful meeting led to the foundation of the White Lion Aldershot Community Pub action group. At the time of writing, the group are working out their preferred proposal to put forward to the community to try and save a much needed community asset.