News

Update from this month:

• Pop-up pub night 7th May at 7:30pm: Please don’t miss our village update and pop-up pub night on the 7th May. We’re going to run this a little differently and give a brief update at the start covering our progress and latest plans followed by an evening of drinks and conversation. We will all be walking around to answer any of your questions. We would love your questions ahead of time so we can make sure we get the fullest answers for you - please email us with any questions on your mind in advance at: info@savetheblackhorse.co.uk
• Conversations with the owners: We are continuing to talk to the owners about their plans for the pub. We are hoping to meet with them ahead of our village meeting on the 7th May so will update you more then.
• Enforcement issues you raised: Stansted Parish Council are continuing to work with TMBC on the enforcement issues (cutting down the trees, the hoarding, and how the pub is currently being used). You can continue to raise these issues yourself as well directly with TMBC.

Keeping you informed:

You may have noticed our email and website has changed - we just think it’s simpler for now and helps with our main message - that we want to Save The Black Horse. Don’t worry if you’ve used the old one both still work and will reach us. We now have our regular email established as well as these Parish Notes and look forward to meeting with you on 7th May. If you would like to join the mailing list or WhatsApp group please email info@savetheblackhorse.co.uk.

Thank you

Update from this month:

Thank you to the large number of people who have flagged to us the changes that have been made at The Black Horse to make it into a personal fitness studio – we now have and continue to raise these with the local council.

Current roadblocks:

• Access to survey the property: The owners of The Black Horse have told the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC) that the property has been offered to us for sale which now gives us 6 months to bid for the property. Unfortunately, we are being refused access to arrange any surveys which would be needed for funding and being told they would only accept a £1.5m offer (over three times the sale price when they purchased the property in 2022).
• Lack of action so far from the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC): The Parish Council has been in regular communication with TMBC to highlight all the issues we’ve seen from the unauthorised removal of trees, installation of security barriers without planning permission and now opening a new business from the premises.

Where you can help:

• Register your views: Given the strength of feeling about the changes at The Black Horse we encourage you to register directly with TMBC by going to https://enforcements.agileapplications.co.uk/tmbc. Then click ‘submit enforcement enquiry’, the first page is your details, second page is the details of the pub (TN15 7PR is the postcode and you have to put a number before the house name – just put ‘0’) and last page is asking for a description. It takes two minutes. Here are some useful data points to support you.
• • A number of trees were felled August/September 2024;
  • The Black Horse was closed to the public on 18th October 2024 turning it into a residential property with no change of use permission;
  • The owner has now opened a personal training business from the premises with no change of use permission.

Keeping you informed:

We would like to hold another community meeting to update you on our progress and answer your questions and have booked the Stansted Village Hall on the 7th May 2025. We’ve also started a monthly email and set up a WhatsApp group using the details you gave us in the first meeting. If you would like to join those mailing lists, please use the Newsletter Signup form in the footer section below, or email info@savetheblackhorse.co.uk.

Lastly please check out our website that is now updated with all the recent information: http://sfcg.co.uk.

Thank you, from your Stansted and Fairseat Community Group

Who we are:

We’re led by our Chair - Tom Sheldon – and the committee members are; James Burlace, Lee Durrant, Anna Epps, David Epps, Daisy Estrada, Simon Gardiner, Gary Ibbott, Jonathan Rowe, Jason Taylor and Yvonne Tisson.

What we’re doing:

We meet regularly and since forming we’ve:

• Submitted two Asset of Community Value (ACV) applications for both the pub and the land of the Black Horse which have been accepted. These create a period of 6 months for the community to purchase the pub subject to agreeing terms with the owner.
• Been in regular contact with the owners of The Black Horse so we’re in the best position to make a viable offer. We’re waiting to be allowed access to survey the pub so we can get a valuation.
• Joined Plunkett UK - a charity that supports groups set up community-owned businesses.
• Identified and researched different funding opportunities and grants and pulled together a business plan so if we are in a position to run the pub we’ll have a plan to do so.
• Applied to create a community benefit society, called Stansted and Fairseat Community Group (SFCG). If we can buy the pub then this is the entity that will make the purchase.
• The owner has shared their intent to submit a planning application for development but at the time of writing no application has been received by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. We’re ready to respond when needed.

Keeping you informed:

We plan to use the Parish notes to keep you updated on our plans. We’re also about to start a regular email and if you’ve filled in our survey we’ll include you on that group.

It’s important that we can update you quickly when needed to if you’re not on our mailing list and would like to join please email info@savetheblackhorse.co.uk.

Lastly please check out our website that we’ll continue to add information to: https://savetheblackhorse.co.uk.

Thanks from your Stansted and Fairseat Community Group

The committee has been meeting regularly, and they hope to have more information soon.

https://sfcg.co.uk