STEPS have been taken as the community attempts to save the Temple Inn.
A meeting was organised by Liss Forest Residents’ Association and was held last Thursday.
At the meeting a chairman, secretary and treasurer were appointed for the group which hopes to save the Temple Inn.
Matt Enticknap was appointed chairman of the group, Barry Gay was appointed secretary and Malcolm Buse was appointed treasurer.
Matt said: “I’m quite optimistic we can save the pub but I’ve got to be realistic. I respect Fuller’s have to get the maximum amount, but I hope to chat with Fuller’s and Savills and work with them.
“It might be we make the Temple a gastro-type pub, as The Hawkley Inn and The Pub With No Name both do well and are very popular.
“We have got to make contact with developers who have put in proposals and support a proposal we like.
“The next step is the community order, which we need to provide a lot of data for.
“Going forward I see three key areas for our group – a business plan area, a marketing area and an ideas area.
“We’ve got to keep the pub going five to ten years down the line and keep it viable.”
Liss Parish Council chairman Keith Budden said: “The meeting went very well and was very well attended.
“I’m going to help get the community order registered.
“We won’t seek funds to save the pub, we’ll seek to meet up with developers.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm to keep a pub, but there is recognition that just having a pub is not commercially viable.
“It is very encouraging that there is a real sense of community spirit.
“People want to save the pub in some form. Someone will snap the pub up if we fail, so the strength of enthusiasm is crucial.”