Rose and Crown Public House

We have been notified that the Rose & Crown Public House located at 22 Market Place, recently designated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) by Wiltshire Council, is intended to be disposed of by its current owner. An interim moratorium on the sale of the Asset is now in place until 5 June 2026. Community Interest Groups have the opportunity in these six weeks to request to be treated as a potential bidder.

Should Wiltshire Council receive such a request from a community interest group within these six weeks, then a six-month ‘full moratorium’ period will be triggered, meaning that no sale can take place before the end of this period. Requests to be treated as a potential bidder should be sent to assetsofcommunityvalue@wiltshire.gov.uk

If no such request is received, then the owner of the Asset is free to dispose of it at the end of the six-week period.

The full moratorium of six months, if triggered, is intended to allow Community Interest Groups time to raise funding to put together a credible bid to buy the Asset. The owner is under no obligation to accept any such bid but the pause is intended to allow community groups time to organise themselves and increase the chance of a successful offer being made. The Government’s regulations provide further detailed information on the precise definition of Community Interest Groups that are eligible to request being treated as a potential bidder. Locality also provides online support and guidance to potential bidders on the myCommunity webpages.

On 17 April 2026, Wiltshire Council decided to enter the Rose and Crown Public House in Chippenham town centre onto their list of Assets of Community Value (ACV). The decision notice and other documents are available to view on the Wiltshire Planning Portal. This followed nomination of the Asset onto the list by the Town Council, at its meeting of the Planning, Environment & Transport Committee on 26 February 2026. To read the committee report proposing to nominate, together with the minutes of the meeting, please click on this link HERE.

We had nominated the Asset following the closure of the public house in November 2025, and a request made to them from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) to nominate and retain the building for community use. The Town Council will not be seeking to bid for this Asset, the reasons for which are fully explained in the committee report.