A CAMPAIGN to keep The Lamb Inn at Sandford from being turned into houses has been given a boost after Mid Devon District Council agreed to list it as an “asset of community value”.

It means if the owner wants to sell it, community groups can pause the sale for six months to try to buy it. The new status could also influence planning decisions.

Members of the Campaign to Keep the Lamb Inn worked together with Sandford Parish Council to submit the application to the district council in March.

The protection will be in place until 2030.

The campaign’s eventual aim is to bring the pub into community ownership, as has been done with other Devon pubs including the Drewe Arms in Drewsteignton, the Cadeleigh Arms and the Sir Walter Raleigh in East Budleigh.

Landlord Nick Silk is currently seeking planning permission to turn the Grade II-listed 16th-century pub into three three-bedroom homes.

He wants to retire, The Lamb Inn has “not been a viable business” since the Covid-19 pandemic despite efforts to diversify income, and nobody made an offer to buy the pub for two and a half years, planning documents say.

If the council grants Mr Silk planning permission, the main pub building, the Lamb Barn next to it and the Dowrich Room at the rear would be turned into homes. There would be no car parking available.

As many as 122 people have written to Mid Devon District Council objecting to the plans.

They highlight the history of the pub, its value to the local community, and question whether it is an economically unviable business.

You can see the application on the Mid Devon District Council website under reference 25/00040/FULL.

To see more public notices and planning applications, visit: publicnoticeportal.uk.