A council has won a legal fight relating to the future of a 1930s building which began life as a golf course pavilion before becoming a pub.
Three Rivers District Council listed the Pavillion in Oxhey, Watford, as an “asset of community value” (ACV) – which gave local people a chance to buy it.
Pavillion (Watford) Ltd, which has owned the building for more than a decade, disputed the council’s decision.
However, a judge has now dismissed an appeal by the company after a hearing at a specialist tribunal.
Judge Joseph Neville heard, at a general regulatory chamber tribunal hearing in May, that the pub was closed for “for refurbishment” in 2018 and had not reopened.
In 2021, Watford Rural Parish Council nominated the Pavilion as an ACV.
Three Rivers District Council then listed the building as an ACV shortly afterwards.
Pavillion (Watford) Ltd asked Three Rivers District Council to reconsider.
Director Sunil Kotecha argued that the nomination was an “abuse” and had been “primarily directed at frustrating future development” rather than “affording the community an opportunity to purchase”.
But in 2022, Three Rivers Three Rivers District Council’s finance director, Alison Scott, upheld the listing.
Pavillion (Watford) then appealed to the tribunal.
Judge Neville dismissed the company’s appeal after concluding that the pub was “validly nominated” and that the “review decision” was right.