Think about pub’s positives

It’s such a shame that a minority of residents are so set against Eddie Sargeant having a successful pub [‘Pub’s bid for outdoor bar rejected’, May 13]. The majority of local and nearby residents would like to see this pub continue its success. The dossier of incidents that they have noted chooses not to mention the positives The Old Coach and Horses has made over the last year or so. For example, in the first lockdown they cooked and delivered free meals for the over 70s. The pub now sponsors Harbledown Cricket Club. The pub has kept a number of staff employed during the lockdowns, redecorating the interior of the pub and improving the outside garden for when they can welcome people back who would like to brave the weather, enjoy a fine pint and a good meal and support someone who is making every effort to make the pub an important part of our community.

Pubs have always been an integral part of the British village culture - does this minority want to see our pubs disappear forever? This pub has been a pub long before any complainants chose to reside in Harbledown. In our area we have sadly lost The Dog and Bear, Rough Common, The Plough Inn, Upper Harbledown and The Chapter Arms at Chartham Hatch. Pubs are where people gather to socialise and relax - customers don’t want to be demonised for enjoying themselves.

Since it’s reopening this spring, we have been lucky enough to have visited the Old Coach and Horses on a number of occasions. We have sat on the lower, middle and top tiers of the garden and at no stage has the noise been excessive.

We’ve walked to the top of the road and the bottom of the road in Harbledown to try and ascertain the noise level and can honestly report it’s hardly above a subdued hum.

The pub has always had taxis picking up and delivering customers. People also use the buses to get there and get home. By using these transport systems it’s preventing drink driving. The pub is a hub which provides jobs for a good number of local youngsters. It sells locallysourced beers and the chef uses local produce - important business for Canterbury growers and suppliers. It’s a shame the pop-pup bar had to be taken down when it made logistical sense to have something on a higher tier of the garden which would have helped the staff and provided greater efficiency for the customers.

No-one is doubting the frustration over parking. It is a narrow road.

Would it be a good idea to apply to Canterbury City Council for some resident parking slots? Maybe, double yellow lines on one side of the road is a solution if the buses getting through has been a continuous issue. Come on now people - rather than nit-pick for the over-inflated negatives let’s support the pub for its positives!

David and Penny Entwistle Upper Harbledown

maintain, and they have been hit hard by the consequences of the pandemic which has reduced fund raising and driven attendance down. Wardens, treasurers and lay people have expressed their fears that the Church could “collapse” in rural communities if the parish share, (a voluntary contribution paid by each parish) is not reduced or scrapped altogether.

Critics point out that at the same time as the number of stipendiary clerics has fallen, i.e. where one vicar is shared across multiple parishes, the bureaucracy in the diocese has grown.

The Church of England recently sold 5,000 acres of farmland for £50 million pounds to add to their £8.7 billion investment fund and said that some of the money would be used to contribute towards the costs of dioceses in low income areas.

It is to be hoped that extra funding is forthcoming, since this is desperately needed.

It has been said, on more than one occasion, that parish churches are England’s glory and that they enshrine the history of a people.

It falls not only on the Church of England but on all of us to help maintain these beautiful churches for those who wish to pray in them or to just enjoy their magnificence.

Meadow Close, Bridge