THE future of The Globe Inn at Appley, which closed at the end of last year, will be discussed at a public meeting next month.

Stawley Parish Council has called the meeting to seek the views of the local community and other interested parties on whether to launch a bid to buy the pub, the freehold of which has recently gone onto the market.

The Grade II listed Globe Inn, reputedly over 500 years old, was originally the village blacksmith before being converted to a pub that has served customers from the surrounding rural areas, Wellington and parts of Somerset and Devon for many decades.

The pub closed in December 2016 and the property is being advertised for sale with potential to re-establish the pub business.

In April 2015, at the instigation of the parish council, The Globe was listed on Taunton Deane Borough Council’s Register of Community Assets. This means the community has a ‘right to bid’ when the pub is marketed for sale and can freeze any potential sale to a third party for up to six months while it prepares a community bid.

Parish council chairman Charles St George said: “We want to hear from local people whether there is an appetite for a bid to buy The Globe Inn and run it as a community pub. If there is, the parish council will consider triggering a moratorium on its sale to allow time for the community to put together a bid.

“We hope everyone with an interest in the future of this important community asset will be able to attend the meeting. If not, people can get in touch with the parish council and give their views via the website, www.stash.org.uk, or email stawleypc@

yahoo.co.uk.,” he said.

The meeting is at Appley Pavilion, Appley Cross, on Tuesday, April 4, starting at 7.30pm.