Burned down nightspot not to be rebuilt

An Andover nightspot destroyed by fire will not be rebuilt.
(Image reproduced by kind permission of The Andover Advertiser)
(Click here for larger photo)

The news will be welcomed by residents who have protested bitterly against any move to rebuild The Country Bumpkin in East Street.

Anton Promotions applied for permission to rebuild the nightspot five years ago after it burnt down.
But now it has been agreed that it will not be replaced either on its original site or on a proposed alternative site at Enham Arch.

Test Valley Council had come up with a deal whereby the council would take over the East Street site in return for council-owned land at Enham Arch and permission there for an entertainments-leisure centre.
But according to an Anton Promotions spokesman, the deal had never been finalised.

However, the spokesman said they were now hoping to finalise it by the end of the year.
But it would not include an entertainments centre at Enham Arch.
The spokesman said, “It would not be viable proposition now because of what has happened since the Bumpkin burnt was down”.

A new nightclub – Flicks – had opened and other premises in the centre of the town had been renovated.
“I think the Country Bumpkin’s contribution to the town has been taken over by other people.”
He said there was now a possibility of a retail warehouse or, alternatively, light industry being built on the site.

Report By John Anderson
From the Andover Advertiser 25/11/1988
Thanks from the Archive of Tony Pickernell

17.03.2008. 11:32

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