Campaign Information
Background
The Ship Inn at Surfleet Seas End has long been a welcoming place where residents in Surfleet and surrounding villages meet to have fun, share food, drinks, and memories. Nonetheless in early 2005 the pub was closed and subsequently sold by its then owners. Between then and now, the pub has remained closed and elements of its interior have been removed and found their way into other pubs in the locality. The gap left is enormous and is hard to justify on a social level. Recently, the we have learned that the pub is for sale again, the details are here.
Establishing the Pub to be an Asset of Community Value
Until recently, the community had to grin and bear it, but in April 2026 the government passed a new law which gave communities the right to buy assets which are considered to be of community value and this includes pubs, like the Ship Inn. So, we started this campaign to keep this irreplaceable community asset safe from redevelopment that would erase its cultural significance and social value. Whether the pub is an asset of community value (ACV) must be demonstrated by the community and accepted by the South Holland District Council (SHDC). We submitted the application to them in June 2026 and if successful, briefly stated, we must be offered the right to bid for the pub and time to raise the funds.
We need your support to make this happen. Supporting us now is not about funding, it is just an expression of your wish that the pub remain a community asset.
Its on the ACV register – so what ?
Being on the ACV register has two effects:
- It not only gives us the right to buy and keep it as a pub;
- It also is a clear statement that the Planning Committee must regard in the event there is an application to change the building’s use from a pub to a dwelling (or series of dwellings) and is likely of sufficient gravity to deny an application to do that.
Obviously this would occur if we failed to raise funds and the new or current owner sought to re-develop the site.
What Next ?
Community Survey, Organise, legalise and raise funds