Golden Lion, Ashton Hayes

Community Owned

Freehold Owner: Community Benefit Society. Ashton Hayes Community Hub Ltd. Year Purchased 2024.

Ashton Hayes Community Hub Ltd. (AHCHL) a Community Benefit Society, was set up to save pub threatened with conversion to residential. They have submitted a proposal for a compulsory purchase order (CPO) (Aug2019), and have applied for the pub to be registered as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) (2021), which was approved in May 2021. An offer of £342,000 was submitted under the moratorium, which was not accepted. Cheshire West and Chester Council agreed to pursue a CPO if no other sale agreement can be reached with the owner. In Dec 2023 the CBS was awarded grants totalling £360,000 from the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund (CoF). They also launched a community share offer. In April 2024 they agreed a purchase price with the pub's owner, and in June 2024 they completed the purchase. The pub reopened on Aug 12 2025. See the society's website and Facebook page for more details.