ONE of Launceston’s most historic and well-known buildings, the White Hart Hotel, went unsold at Clive Emson Auctioneers’ first auction of 2020 at St Mellion International Resort on Thursday, February 13.

The building which had a freehold guide price of £225,000 to £275,000, includes bars, a dining area, a pool room, a conservatory, function rooms and a large ballroom, while the upstairs holds a manager’s flat and 20 letting rooms of which many have en-suite facilities.

Despite this, it went unsold as senior auction appraiser, David Henwood explains: “We had some competitive bidding but it didn’t reach the reserve figure, therefore it went unsold.

“We’ll continue to market the building and there’s been interest from numerous parties post-auction. It’s available for £250,000.

“We had half a dozen people seriously interested from far and wide with some local and some from further afield. Some want to use it for trade, while some would use it as a development project.

“But I still believe there’s every chance that it’ll be sold in the near future.”

Despite the lack of success at auction, a group of people from the community in Launceston are looking into the viability of buying and running the White Hart Hotel as a community asset, and the online discussions thus far have shown how important this central and historic building is to the town.

Local woman Melissa Thomas has set up a Facebook group — The White Hart — A Community Project — after speaking to Cornwall Councillor for Launceston South, Jade Farrington, to find out if anyone would be interested in exploring funding opportunities to restore the hotel and use it for the community. 

Ellie Mason, director of Launceston Community Development Trust, has since announced that the Trust has been in talks with National Lottery Heritage Fund to get a ‘plan in place’ if the White Hart did not sell at auction. Despite noting that the hotel would need a huge amount of investment to restore it and secure its future, Ms Mason seemed to be optimistic about the idea of running the White Hart Hotel as a community project, for the community. 

It has also been mentioned that an information evening could be held as a result of the online discussions, allowing members of the community to discuss the future of the historic building and to explore working together to make the vision a reality. 

One local woman wrote to the group: “The White Hart needs the community and the community needs the White Hart. It needs a new direction than just returning to be a pub and hotel. 

“This is going to be a long journey to reach its success and a lot of hard work, but the potential is amazing if you can look past the hard work. It needs people on the committee that has faith, listens to the community’s ideas and is prepared to fight all negative comments. 

“To succeed, the White Hart needs money but more importantly it needs love.” 

See next week’s Post to read more about the White Hart — A Community Project.