Rising Sun, Woodcroft

For ten years it seemed like the sun had permanently set at Woodcroft's only pub, The Rising Sun. The pub was bought by a property developer from nearby Chepstow and it was his intention to convert the village pub to residential use. It closed in 2011.

Arguing that the business was no longer viable, he submitted plans to Forest of Dean District Council for conversion into apartments. The plans were vehemently opposed by the residents of Woodcroft, fearing that they would permanently lose the only pub in the village. Forest of Dean District Council received a petition of over 1,000 people objecting to the development. The ‘Save Our Sun’ Action Group was set up and campaigners successfully secured an Asset of Community Value protection for the Rising Sun in December 2013. The ACV afforded the opportunity for the Woodcroft Community to raise necessary funds for the purchase of the Rising Sun on the provision that they could prove its viability as a going concern.

Worthy Developments were approached with view for a sale. Two successive offers were firmly rejected by the development company. Forest of Dean District Council dismissed the application for conversion in September 2014 concluding that it would be an unacceptable loss of a community facility stating that ‘the developers have not demonstrated that every reasonable attempt has been made to find an alternative use that could maintain it as a public facility or re-open it as a public house as it is the last one in the village.’ Dr Michelle Hayes, chairman of the Save Our Sun committee said, “Lack of need has not been proven by the applicant. Quite the opposite, given the amount of community support, with a petition of more than 1,000 signatures.”

Undeterred, however, the developers still insisted that they had proof of its non-viability.

The Rising Sun was put on the market with specialist estate agents Sidney Phillips at the end of 2017 with a price tag of £325,000, arguably well over the actual market value. There followed a focused campaign to buy and re-open the Rising Sun and had raised £230,000 in pledges by July 2018. The intention was to raise £350,000 towards a possible compulsory purchase.

Meanwhile in the intervening years since closure the fabric and structure of the building was allowed to deteriorate. It could be argued that this was an entirely deliberate decision by the developers to run the site down to create an eyesore and blight on the landscape. t is a devious ploy that has been conveniently utilised by many other developers throughout the country, and consequently many hundreds of possibly viable pubs have been permanently closed as a result.

In November 2019 Forest of Dean District Council served notice to Worthy Developments that it was their intention to proceed towards a Compulsory Purchase order, a positive move no doubt instigated by years of uncertainly and stagnation. Fundraising for legal costs got underway for the battle ahead.

The Rising Sun was bought by the Community in Spring 2022, and throughout the long hot summer volunteers worked hard to bring the building back to use as a pub. Their efforts were rewarded when the Rising Sun officially opened on Saturday 26th October 2022.

The Rising Sun is now a superb pub, proudly serving the local community again against all odds. It really is a classic example on how a determined group of people can get together to save their local pub.