THE residents of a scattered rural community were celebrating last night after winning the right to buy their local pub.
They have secured the right to purchase the Midmar Inn, in Aberdeenshire, which closed its doors almost a year ago, should it come on to the open market.
But David Cooper, the owner, vowed it would never be put up for sale as long as he was alive.
The decision of Scottish ministers to apply right-to-buy legislation to the Midmar Inn, near Echt, is the latest round in a bitter feud between the residents of Midmar and Mr Cooper, which began when he shut the doors of the century-old hostelry last September.
Mr Cooper then sparked an outcry in the hamlet earlier this year when he applied for planning permission to turn the inn into his family home.
Residents formed an action group, the Friends of Midmar Inn Community Company, to oppose the move and called for the premises, known locally as the "Cottage Bar", to be marketed at its business value.
Margot Kennedy, of the action group, said residents were "over the Moon" at the decision of ministers to give them the chance to buy the building, should it come up for sale.
Ms Kennedy, 66, who has been a regular at the Midmar Inn for 20 years, said: "This relatively new piece of legislation is usually associated with crofters and tenant farmers having the right to buy the land they farm, but the Land Reform (Scotland) Act also enables communities in certain areas to register the right to buy land and buildings for the benefit of the community.
"Should the inn be put on the market, we now have first refusal to buy it and will be given six months to do so."
Ms Kennedy said village shops and other amenities had closed, leaving the pub as the centre of their dispersed community.
"We have a church, which is fine for people that go to church on Sunday, and a village hall that is fine if you want to go to the bridge club or the gardeners' club once a week. The pub was the only place where you could just go on your own and meet other people," she said.
She added that after Mr Cooper took over the pub four years ago, residents had stopped going there. She went on: "I think it is reasonable to say they obviously weren't getting what they wanted, and people voted with their feet.
"Unfortunately, our right to buy won't apply until the building goes on the market. He can carry on owning it and we can't make him sell it to us. We have won a small battle, but not the war."
Mr Cooper, who ran the pub with his partner, Debbi Begg, made it clear he had no intention of selling to the community group. He said: "As far as I'm concerned, it will never come on the market. It's my property – I own it 100 per cent. My planning permission is in and I'm just waiting for approval."
The full article contains 522 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
