Michael and Carole Whibley, from Gravesend, say they are planning to "start a new life" at The Rolvenden Club's former base near Tenterden. The Rolvenden Club, near Tenterden, is to be converted into a two-bed home. Picture: Offset Architects Their plans to convert the Maytham Road building were narrowly approved by Ashford Borough Council (ABC) last week amid concerns over the use of the site.
Members of the authority's planning committee heard how the club "has been declining rapidly over the last 10 or 15 years". The single-storey building is in the High Weald National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and sits next to the Grade II-listed White House, where the club was based until 1991. Tony Button, of the club's committee, said the group decided to put its home up for sale two years ago.
"We have gone from a lot of members to 44 and most of them do not participate in the running of the club," he told last Wednesday's meeting. Michael and Carol Whibley have received permission to convert The Rolvenden Club into a home The Rolvenden Club sits in Maytham Road not far from the high street "Because the funds we've got are so low we've had to cease trading as of June 30. "It will become a derelict building if we do not get something done to it.
"The application on offer I feel is very amenable and helpful to the village. "We've also been in competition with three local pubs within a mile and the village hall, none of which are doing well at the moment." Plannin.