Parish Council accepts most people now support plans for HJ regeneration

The Henry Jenkins: It could be a great community asset again

In a significant decision, Kirkby Malzeard Parish Council has this week accepted that the majority villagers support plans for the regeneration of the Henry Jenkins.

At a packed public meeting on Tuesday – called to discuss the future of the Henry Jenkins – the Parish Council raised  some questions about the methodology of HJCC’s Opinion Survey, which suggests that 78% of householders support HJCC’s plans for a community-owned pub, bistro and coffee shop with b&b. However they have issued a statement saying: “The responses so far do however indicate that the majority of residents support the re-opening of the whole building as a pub with ancillary uses.”

The Parish Council – which recently appointed four new members – also accepted that, while a revived HJ would complete to some degree with the Queens, this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

“It was agreed that …if the Henry Jenkins were to re-open it would to some extent compete with the Queens Head but that this competition might also have some positive benefits for residents.

“The Parish Council does have a responsibility to protect local businesses and values existing businesses such as the Queen’s Head but whilst we want to ensure their successful future, we accept that this does not preclude accepting competition.”

We remain hopeful that in future everyone in the village can work together to help improve our community through the regeneration of the Henry Jenkins as a new and exciting amenity that  provides more choice for local people, helps to pull in visitors – and complements much-valued existing facilities such as the Mechanics and the Queens. 

Please register your objection to the latest plans to break up the pub – see below. (It should only take you only 10 minutes!)

The Parish Council’s comments were made as part of their response to HJCC’s  renomination as an Asset of Community Value that part of the HJ recently sold by David Fielder to one of his associates.

The Henry Jenkins was listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) in July, 2017, following a long campaign by HJCC , demonstrating that the pub has been a hub of the local community for at least 190 years – and that many local people and community groups would like to use it again.

However because of a loophole in the law governing ACVs, it appears that when part of an ACV is sold, that part may have to be automatically delisted (and this is what Harrogate Borough Council have done in this case).

We maintain that the fact that part of the property has been sold is irrelevant: The pub in its entirety remains an important community asset for all the reasons set out in our original ACV nomination.  A decision on whether to relist the entire pub as an ACV is expected next month.