New landlady of Wickham pub needs community support to save it from being turned into flats

Sara Pollard-Dambach and her partner Oliver reopened The Roebuck on August 31, after the public house had been shut for almost six months.

Now the 33-year-old is looking to buy the property after proposals were made to turn the 19th century site into flats.

She said: ‘The owner loves us, and he doesn’t want it to be a block of flats, but he has been in talks with people about how he would do it.

‘We are in talk at the moment looking to buy it over the next three months.

‘We're looking to bring that date forward because we want to buy it now.

‘But we have to show that we have a profitable plan.’

The pub is currently breaking even after taking more than £20,000 in the last month, and the team plans to attract more customers with discount food nights and a bed & breakfast service.

But now Sara and Oliver need to show how the growing popularity of the pub will allow them to save for a deposit and secure the future of the pub.

Sarah said: ‘It's a case of use it or lose it. We've lost too many country pubs. The community needs its local pub.’

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But the drive to turn a profit hasn’t stopped the new occupants supporting the community – even if it brings back embarrassing memories.

Last week, Sara handed over a donation of £523 – four days worth of profits – to the Fire Fighters Charity as a way of thanking local firefighters who came to her aid on her first day in the pub.

She said: ‘I set off the fire box on my first day as landlady and got to meet the lovely Wickham boys from the fire station.

‘I felt so silly – I was teaching a member of staff how to set the alarm at the time.

‘The fire crew was absolutely incredible.

‘They showed me how to set it and they said it was wonderful to see the pub open and promised to come in and have a drink – and they've been true to their word.

‘So we thought we’d give something back.’

Sara added: ‘The whole community has been fantastic.’

The pub will begin discount food nights next week, with a pie night on Wednesdays, a curry night on Thursdays, and a steak night on Fridays.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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