Since the White Hart in Bratton Fleming closed in December 2012,

the village has not had a pub. This website is for everyone

who wants to see the White Hart re-opened as a pub

at the centre of the Bratton Fleming community.  

To this end we have founded

The Bratton Fleming Community Benefit Society Ltd.

This company has been created with the help of the Plunkett Foundation to do all we can to get our pub back.

Due to the growing number of Firms that have generously decided to sponsor us, and in particular our POP UP PUB events, we now have a new page on this website to thank them properly called our support.

Happy New Year Bratton Fleming and surrounding areas.

What a wonderful village and community spirit we have.

We have just enjoyed an amazing New Year's Eve Party which was awesome and fully attended.

What a year 2023 was and I would like to do a quick recap of the year:

We held 12 normal Pop Up Pub events in 2023. We have moved away from only holding Pop Up Pub events every now and then, and in the last two years we have been holding them regularly on the 4th Saturday of every Month to coincide with the Village Market, with the exception of December, when the Pop Up Pub is on the 3rd Saturday of the Month so as not to be too near Christmas. Five of these Pop Up Pubs had fantastic live bands and we also squeezed in two quizzes.  We now complement the Pop Up Pub with a variety of food vans, which are also available to those not wishing to attend the Pub.

These Pop Up Pub events have been great fun and very well attended - so a very big heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for your support.

In addition to our normal Pop Up Pubs we have also held and helped in a few special events recently. In 2022 we held an amazing Pop Up Pub in conjunction with the village for celebrations of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.  This event was crazy busy and superbly attended with much fun had by all. Sadly, later in the year, the Queen died and this year we had another Royal event to celebrate in the form of the King's Coronation.  Again in conjunction with the village we held a Pop up pub which was another great event and widely attended by many from Bratton and surrounding areas.

A few weeks later we managed the bar for a charity event run by Tony and Linda Ellis in support of charities for suicide awareness and prevention (and Summit to Share) to support friends and Family affected by Suicide and in memory of Max Ellis who they lost to suicide. This was one of the busiest events that we have helped in and had amazing support from the village and wider afield. We felt honoured to be able to support this event and help raise over £2000 for the Charities.

To end what was a fabulous year we held a New Year's Eve Party.  This was an awesome evening starting at 6pm and endingin the early hours of the morning on New Year's Day.  We sold out in the end and it was very well attended.  We had the main suppliers of Otter Brewery for Beer, Ale and Lager, Thatchers for Cider, Wicked Wolf for Gins and Pull the Pin for Rums.  Food was provided by Exe Valley Pizza Co. and the Music by Soulcraft.

I will take this opportunity to say a very big thank you to our committee and helpers who help manage and run the events and to our wonderful suppliers, bands and food vans.

In terms of our aim to acquire the freehold of The White Hart and re-establish it as a hub at the heart of our community, two of the key achievements in 2023 were the dismissal of the current owner's appeal against the refusal of planning permission to turn the site into housing and the approval of the planning application we jointly submitted with the Parish Council for a part change of use in order to enable us to incorporate the village shop and other facilities into the pub when the time comes.

The dismissal of the owner's appeal was a really significant moment in our campaign to retain and develop The White Hart, as it established beyond all reasonable doubt that the site is a pub and not a residential development opportunity.  We believe this has firmly closed the door on further planning applications from the owner, which should enable us to move forward more positively from now on and concentrate on moving towards community ownership of the pub.

Our joint planning application followed an amazingly positive response to the community consultation on our joint Vision for The White Hart, which we carried out at the beginning of the year.  This puts us in a strong position to act swiftly when we finally do secure community ownership of the pub.

We are working hard behind the scenes to put various building blocks into place, and hope that 2024 will see The White Hart finally in the hands of our amazing community.

Thank you all again for all your support and help.

We have events booked for throughout 2024 and will compile a list as soon as - again all our events are on the 4th Saturday of each month, with the exception of December which is the 3rd Saturday.  We will also be doing another NYE Party in 2024.

Happy New Year and All the best for 2024.

Chairman

Bratton Fleming Community Benefit Society

Chairmans review of 2023