An enterprising community in the village of Banton, near Kilsyth in North Lanarkshire, is set to purchase its local pub and secure it as a community asset after receiving a £184,490 award from the Scottish Land Fund to buy the Swan Inn.
People United for Banton (PUB) intend to transform the premises into a new community hub providing a range of services including a shop, post office, café/restaurant and multi-purpose meeting space while retaining the pub as the focal point of the community.
Catherine Moneypenny, the group’s secretary, said that community ownership of the village pub would secure vital and previously lost local services for years to come.
“Our village was hit hard by the closure of the Post Office in 2010, followed two years later by the village shop,” she said. “We are absolutely delighted that we can purchase the Swan Inn which will revitalise our community and ensure the services we so vitally need are restored and secured.
“Our plans to develop the Swan Inn will extend its remit beyond a straightforward pub while retaining the warmth and traditional feeling of ‘the local’.”
The project is one of six across Scotland that will share in nearly £1.4 million being awarded by the fund.
John Watt of the Scottish Land Fund commented: “One of the many strengths of the Scottish Land Fund is its ability to respond flexibly to the individual needs of local communities.
“For the first time we’re awarding funding to enable local people to buy their village pub and in doing so this community will be able to restore important facilities which have disappeared from the village in recent years, thereby creating a brighter future for local people – now and in the future.”