Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
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by Lib Dem team on 7 June, 2012
Ever since the previous owners of Cheadle’s George and Dragon sold it to Dorbiere, we’ve been hoping that the promises of the new owners would come to pass: a redeveloped pub-hotel for that key location. Time has gone by with no progress. The Dorbiere banner promising imminent development has come down. The metal shutters over the windows have been replaced with wood.
And now the freehold is up for sale for £425,000 – Dorbiere have decided to sell the George and Dragon on.
The George and Dragon has a great location in the heart of Cheadle Village and we all want to see it back in use. If you might be the person or company to do that, please take a look.
George and Dragon, Cheadle – Sales Particulars
21 Comments
Stockport Council should buy it, move in and sell off the equivalent space in Stockport. This would take public services closer to the community.
I think it looks great as it is, maybe paint the boards black, then leave it like that for the next ten years
Did Dorbiere give up because council planning requirements were too demanding?
Hi Les,
Is there anything particular you would want to see sold off? Looking around Stockport we already have council services spread out and I’m not sure what would work better if moved from Stockport to Cheadle.
Hi Robin,
No, Dorbiere had no trouble getting planning permission for their proposal – they’ve had it for well over a year.
Iain
Not really, Iain, I’m just desperate to see something positive at the ‘George’. Look at the difference the Istanbul Grill has made at the former Weavers. I think the comment above about painting the boards black is a good one. Could the council act on this?
Hi Les,
My tongue was firmly in my cheek re comments (no.2) above.
regards
Richard
The best solution for the George & Dragon is to find a person or organisation who can invest the money to buy the site and bring it back into productive use.
My hope is that by publicising the sale, we can help that happen, but we’ll also be looking out for other opportunities to interest people in buying it.
what a community buy-in??? – seriously, i know of a few pubs in cumbria where locals have all become shareholders and run it for the benefit of the local community….. a thousand people all investing a £1000 each would buy it and have money for a refurbishment??!!
Community buy-in is an interesting option.
Where it’s been used elsewhere, I think it’s normally to save the only pub in the area. Might be more challenging in Cheadle which has several pubs within a couple of minutes walk of the G&D.
Worth exploring, though – not something I know a great deal about, so if anyone does know more and thinks it could work, would love to hear.
What a huge disappointment about Dorbieres. Cheadle is not a great place to go for a night out as although we have a number of nice restaurants, there are no nice pubs to make a night of it and so we still always end up in Didsbury or Alderley Edge. I’d love it be spending my money in the village!!!
hi iain- you are right about a community buy in being to usually save the only pub in the village, but Penny isn;t alone- i know lots of 30/40/50 yr olds that would love to use a decent pub in cheadle( many might be able to invest as well)
i’ve just found an example- the old crown pub in hesket newmarket, cumbria which was the first co-operatively owned pub in the uk…
just wondering how we could establish whether there would be interest in cheadle to do this??- some online media- facebook campaign etc should be easy to arranged to guage interest???
I’d be up for investing and ditto some of the comments above. I know of a few local examples of this sort of community engagement; I understand some Gatley residents/businesses are running a euromillions lottery syndicate to raise funds in order to develop tatton cinema – fingers crossed! Also, a few years back Manchester rugby club raised funds to update the claub house by selling shares in a proposal to develop part of the car park area of the club for housing. Not sure quiet how the mechanism for investing actually worked, as i opted out on the grounds that they were offering investment in a site that was then [in planning terms] undevelopable.
re: ‘Dicky’ Horsnell – those muppets in Gatley also believe in fairies !
Cheadle still has several public houses to choose from.
Gatley has television, no, really !!
Result ? – pie in the sky !!!
I know plenty of people who would invest £1k into it particularly if it was a good ale pub. I have lived in Cheadle since 2009 and the high street has come a long way since then….the George is the missing piece in the jigsaw
Hi me and my fiancée went to dorbiere for an interview to manage the George and dragon. Had what we thought was a constructive interview and were told go and have a look at the property. WOW. I’m pretty sure any ambitious managers could see the prospect in the pub. Which we did. We were told to get back to them with a list of possible profit maximising ideas which we did. We were hoping for a response like “you have been successful in your application” or the opposite so we could plan our future careers and life. After a few weeks I tried to get back in touch with the brewery and we recieved a response of the following:
Dear Adam and Sarah
Unfortunately we are still dealing with planning and conservation officers regarding our intended developments, and this is taking much longer than anticipated. You may be aware nothing has happened to the building since you visited Cheadle after our interview. Once we have a confirmed date when works (which will be a 12 week build period) would start I will let you know as we will then be looking at our operations team for the site.
Firstly we thought we were being fobbed off and didnt have the pub. So we looked at other options. Bearing in mind this was in march 2011. I now see that they have done nothing to build on a massive prospect which is disappointing for me as a young and passionate chef and publican and also as someone who looks at towns and thinks “why the hell is that amazing building empty and not being utilised?”
I hope that someone buys the place and does something constructive with it. I know that if I had the capita l, or a silent investor with confidence in me I would have a damn good go at it. And without wanting to sound arrogant and big headed i think me and my fiancée could make us, a brewery or an investor a lot of money and build a great reputation for being the place to be for a good few reasons.
Well I have bought a lotto ticket so fingers crossed. . .
I live local and have had my eye on the property for quite sometime. I am currently in the process of viewing the George & Dragon with keen interest to purchase .
My ideas for another restaurant would work perfectly in this location and I am looking for feedback from the community to see what type of food and style you would be most eager to see open in cheadle.
Feedback would be much appreciated
Thanks
Alesha
I have read recently in a local cheadle magazine that someone is about to buy the george & dragon.I just hope a lot of money will be spent on it, and not just a cheap makeover.Cheadle needs a new focal point to drive other buisness people to open up the large number of vacant shops that are currently available in the village.
I’ve lived in Cheadle since 1999 and it’s sad to see the G&D in the state it is. I guess buyers are potentially being put off by the cost of renovation in such a size property. To Alesha I think we have a good mix in Cheadle, and looking at the various fortunes of the place that is now a Brazilian restaurant close to Tesco I’m not sure there’s a demand for another eatery but rather a decent pub.
So… Has this place been bought now or what? This property is a gold mine – in the right hands. Cheadle (or South Manchester for that matter) is crying out for an independent, freehold pub – with good ales and a decent wine list – in a good location with parking. This property has bucket loads of potential. I would be interested to know who has bought it and what their plans are for it…
As far as I know it’s still on the market.