Welcome to the campaign to save
the 400-year old Cabinet pub in the
village of Reed in Hertfordshire.
The Cabinet is a Grade II listed building, the last pub
in the village, and is believed to be the only pub in the
country bearing the name. It has served the
residents of Reed and the surrounding area as a pub
for some 400 years.
To the horror of the local community, the present
owner turned The Cabinet into a house without
planning permission or listed building consent, only
applying for these retrospectively.
The Save the Cabinet Action Group has been
leading the fight to resist these applications and
restore The Cabinet to its proper place as a beautiful
village pub at the heart of the local community.
Permission for change of use was definitively refused
following a planning appeal heard as a Public Inquiry
in 2018. An enforcement notice requiring that the
building should stop being used as a private
residence is due to come into force in early August
2020.
Unfortunately the present owner has continued to
ignore the requirements of planning law. In 2019 he
applied for permission to subdivide the pub, only
opening a small part of it as a pub and treating the
majority as his residence. This was refused - but
during the lockdown caused by the 2020 pandemic he
subdivided the building anyway, opening a small part
of it as an Indian bar, restaurant and takeaway. New
planning and listed building applications would, if
granted, confirm this arrangement, meaning that the
main part of the building would be lost as a pub
forever - with the probability that the “restaurant”
area would soon follow.
Read more about the planning history here.
The Action Group has been leading the fight to save
The Cabinet as pub since 2016. It will continue the
fight now. Please support us.
We need to raise further funds to help meet the costs
of resisting the latest planning applications. Please
help if you can. You can donate to the Save the
Cabinet Fighting Fund simply and easily on JustGiving.
Read more about supporting the campaign, including
other ways to donate, here.
Frequently asked questions
Q:
Didn’t the pub close because it wasn’t
sufficiently supported?
A:
No. It closed because of the theft of a
substantial amount of money from the takings,
meaning the bills could not be paid. The publican
tried to continue but, in the end, had to accept reality
and became bankrupt. He tells us that had it not
been for that incident there’s no reason why the pub
should not still be trading today.
Q:
Surely the pub could never be viable in
today’s climate? Rural pubs struggle these days.
A:
We have demonstrated to the satisfaction of a
planning inspector at a Public Inquiry on the basis of
cogent evidence that The Cabinet could indeed be
viable. Other village pubs in this area are very
successful and there is every reason to suppose that
The Cabinet, with its substantial support base, could
be too.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and
Local Government was sufficiently satisfied on the
basis of a business plan that The Cabinet could be
viable that it granted the local Parish Council
authority to take out a loan from the government to
buy the pub. Unfortunately, the Parish Council’s offer
was turned down by the owner.
Q:
You just don’t want an Indian restaurant in
your village.
A:
We would welcome an Indian, or any other type
of restaurant as part of a fully reopened pub. The
problem with the present arrangement is that it splits
the building in two, putting the majority of the former
trading area into residential use – a change which
requires planning and listed building consent which
has been refused - and increasing the likelihood that
the pub as a whole will be lost forever.
Q:
Despite efforts by the owner to sell, nobody
wants to buy The Cabinet.
A:
Not true. We know that generous offers to buy
the freehold have been made but refused by the
owner, who was asking an unrealistically high price.
He also turned down an offer by Reed Parish Council.
Established operators have also enquired about
leasing the premises to open the whole of them as a
pub, but they too have been rebuffed.
The previous owners, too, rebuffed credible
expressions of interest in buying or leasing the pub,
instead selling it by auction at a price significantly
greater than its value as a pub.
Q:
You’re just complaining because changes that
you don’t like have been made by the landlord.
A:
We are complaining because the owner – a
property developer – turned the much-loved The
Cabinet into a house without planning permission or
listed building consent, depriving the village of an
important community asset. Planning permission has
since been definitively refused following an appeal
heard at a Public Inquiry. Splitting off part of the
building for use as restaurant and takeaway also
needs planning permission. A previous application to
subdivide the premises was refused last year but the
owner has gone ahead regardless. There is also
evidence that some of the changes made to the fabric
of the building could cause long-term damage if not
rectified.
SAVE OUR VILLAGE PUB!
© Save the Cabinet Action Group 2021
The Save the Cabinet
Action Group
The Action Group was founded in
September 2016. Its aim is to preserve
The Cabinet, the last pub in the village of
Reed in Hertfordshire. It has led the
resistance to the various planning
applications and the appeal.
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