Banton community pub plans welcomed by village residents

The event, hosted by People United for Banton (PUB) shed more light on plans to establish community ownership of village pub the Swan Inn, which would lead to the creation of a new shop and provision of basic postal services, two things the village has lost in recent years.

Campaign member Grace McGinnity said: “There was a great turnout and the attitude towards the project was very positive, with people overwhelmingly in favour of the proposals.

“At the meeting we were able to show plans detailing how the changes would be implemented. Several people have expressed interest in helping us with the project.

“The next step is to get our grant applications in to the correct bodies in order to secure funding. At the moment it looks quite promising that these will be accepted.”