Campaign 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 2025 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.
ACV Listing
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.
On 14 July 2026 the council agreed with us and included the Ship Inn on the list of Assets of Community Value. The owner has a right to review of that decision and ultimately a right to appeal separately. To date (9 Aug) we are not aware that these rights have been exercised.
The ACV listing 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.
Statutory Timetable
Once the owner gives notice of an intention to make a ‘relevant disposal’ which might be an agreement to sell to someone, a 6 month moratorium on that sale begins unless there is an exception.
The Ship was already for sale when the ACV and we understand this would not be a relevant disposal. The Ship is not being sold as a going concern, so we do not believe there is an exception.
This said, it is for the council to determine and advise us. We await that advice.
Pending this, we set our own timescale and are proceeding on the basis that the effective date of the 6 month moratorium on sale was 23 July. If it is later, then this is to our benefit as we have more time to raise funds. The 2011 Legislation imposes a timeline which all parties must follow.
Please see Community Bid Process for further details
Last Updated: 18 August 2026