MOVES to protect a now-closed public house in Wellington as an ‘asset of community value’ are being explored by town councillors.

The Dolphin Inn, in Waterloo Road, has been closed since January, 2020, after pub chain JD Wetherspoon was accused of taking away trade with the opening of the town centre Iron Duke four years earlier.

Landlady Anna Madams was reported at the time as saying: “I would love the Dolphin to stay open because it is a real community asset and the heart of some people’s social life but running it is a 100-hours a week job and I need to put my family and financial future first.”

A collective calling itself ‘Save the Dolphin Pub Group’ (SDPG) was set up soon afterwards to look at how the property could be turned to community use.

Wellington town Cllr John Thorne worked with the group to help submit a bid to the district council to have the pub designated as an ‘asset of community value’.

However, the district council said the application did not meet the criteria and rejected it without offering a full explanation.

Now, Cllr Thorne has persuaded town councillors to re-open the case and look again at whether the Dolphin should be nominated for ‘asset of community value’ status.

If the designation was agreed, it would mean the council had to be given advance notice of any sale of the Dolphin and there would be a grace period of six weeks to allow the council to decide if it wanted to try to buy it.

If it did, the council would be allowed six months to raise the funds to make a bid before a sale could go ahead.

The Dolphin owners, the Wellington Pub Company, would not be obliged to accept an offer from the council and could still sell to another bidder.

Cllr Thorne, who is also one of Wellington’s two county councillors, said: “I know how much of a disappointment it was for SDPG members when the district council said ‘no’ without giving any proper reason.

“I intended to bring it to the town council a long time ago but it was an issue which became lost in the fog of the pandemic and I have only now been prompted to raise it again.

“I believe, as the landlady said at the time, that the Dolphin clearly has immense local community value and can be a focal point for activities.

“It has been used over my entire lifetime in Wellington until fairly recent times as a focal point for community groups and leisure activities in addition to its use as a public house and eating place.

“Many years ago when I was a member of Wellington Carnival Committee we held all our meetings in the main upstairs room of the Dolphin and I recall that a lot of other organisations also did so.

“Later, with friends, I formed Linden City Football Club at a meeting downstairs in the Dolphin and all of our business was also held there.

“The Dolphin also has a large outside area where activities such as the annual wassail have been held, community bonfire nights, and more.”

Cllr Thorne said the north side of Wellington was lacking in dedicated community space, as was Wellington East where the town council was currently engaged in a project to deliver a community centre on the Cades Farm estate.

The nearest facility for people living in Tonedale was the Wellington Community Centre in the town centre, otherwise, facilities such as Wellington Rugby Clubhouse had to be hired.

Cllr Thorne said: “An ‘ACV’ does not mean that the council has any rights to take over the Dolphin if the property was put up for sale, but it would allow for a pause in the sale process for the idea to be seriously explored and to see if funding can be raised to make an offer to purchase.

“I do not see any realistic prospect in the near future of the council being able to provide community hall facilities for Tonedale and other parts of Wellington North other than acquiring an existing premises such as the Dolphin Inn.