A PETITION is being launched online which people can sign to show their support for saving The Britannia Inn for the community.
The pub on Bath Road, Wells, closed in 2021 and is now up for sale with an asking price of £350,000.
Wells City Council has submitted an Asset of Community Value Order (ACVO) application to Mendip District Council for the pub. A listing would protect it from being sold or demolished for six months, giving the community time to put together a bid.
But the district council has asked for more evidence of public support in order to consider the application.
The petition is being set up by Councillor Theo Butt Philip, who is leading the campaign to save the pub, and will be available at savethebrit.com
Cllr Butt Philip is also organising a meeting for members of the community interested in being involved in taking the proposals to buy and run the pub further. The meeting will take place at St Thomas’ Church Hall on Wednesday, March 22, at 7pm.
“I would like to thank everyone who has come forward and expressed their support for a community bid to buy and run the Brit – we will only be able to take this forward with the buy-in of the community,” he said.
The district council also requested evidence that the city council has agreed to the ACVO application in the form of a decision recorded in the minutes of a city council meeting.
City councillors therefore discussed the application again at the full council meeting on February 23, and formally voted to give it their backing.