A landlord who was forced to close the only remaining pub in his village says he believes most people living there are happy it’s no longer open.
Asher Burnam is now living above the 200-year-old May Garland Inn in Horam Road, Horam, and has found a new job after it closed in May 2022.
He has leased part of its car park to a car wash, which is now asking for planning permission to formalise the change of use.
But after abandoning a three-year planning battle to knock down half the pub and build flats in a bid to make it financially viable, he says he has no immediate plans for the building itself.
He said: “I did the best I could for more than 11 years to not close a village pub. I put on many events music-wise and food-wise and I had an amazing core of regular people who loved it and loved me for doing it.
“But the majority of the people who live in my village are happy not having a pub and have said so to my face many times.
“I was despised by the parish council, even though none of them ever entered the pub to see what it was like.
“I am just a very ordinary guy doing a very ordinary job that pays my bills to keep a roof over my head now.
“I live on very humble means. The pub’s exterior won’t be improved until I can afford to do so.
“I don’t know about what else is in the future for this building.”
The car wash set up last autumn. The application, submitted by Rachid Kheddouci, state the site is owned by Mohamad Jabar and that two people are employed by the business, which operates from 7am to 6pm from Monday to Saturday and 8am to 5pm on Sunday.
Mr Burnam said: “Nothing is being built. It’s changing a car park into a bit of space with pressure washers that provides a service and some employment.
“Everyone I have met so far that has used the car wash has given me great feedback that the guys there do a good job.”
Neighbour Linda Martin has objected to the car wash plans. She said: “The car wash is just another scruffy blot appeared in Horam in an area that needs tidying up, befitting to a pleasant residential landscape.
“Where is the water draining?
“Like most people in Horam, I feel the May Garland is a beautiful ancient building on an important piece of land on a prominent corner as you enter Horam that must be protected at all cost and any change of use sympathetically designed, certainly not used for a car wash.”
Mr Burman and his father Roy applied to knock down the southern wing of the pub, refurbish the rest, and build nine flats on its car park in 2019.
In their planning application to Wealden District Council, they said the business was struggling, but they hoped new homes and a crematorium being built nearby, with the prospect of the pub being used to host wakes, could improve its economic outlook.
However, despite extensive negotiations with the planning department and reduction of the number of flats on the site, the application was eventually withdrawn in January 2023.
