“The last six months have shown us people’s behaviour at its worst, the personal insults and attacks were unforgivable,” she said.
“We have been running the Chequers Inn for nearly 17 years and have put our heart and soul into it.”
Speaking of her elderly parents, who still help run the pub, she said: ‘Ask yourself: would you work a 12 to 16 hour shift every day just to make a loss, and would you do that if you were 80 years old and had life-threatening heart disease?
“We hope that with the change of use, someone will come forward to take over the pub, knowing that they have a safety net should the business go bust, which is sure to happen.”
Dozens of local residents, including some who had sought to buy the pub and run it as a community inn along the lines of The George in nearby Bethersden, sat in the public gallery as councillors voted in favour of Ms Hollywood’s proposals.
“To be lost forever”
Russ Phipps of the Smarden Community Pub Group spoke out against the application, saying: “We as a group have made more than one offer to the owners to buy the pub on a community basis.”
“But we just haven’t been able to get them to agree or fully engage with us so we can move forward.
“They seem to be more focused on the development potential of the site.
“Planning officers tonight would like you to approve this application to convert Smarden’s old inn, which has been successfully run for over 600 years, into a house and lose it forever.”
Lea Randolph, of Smarden Parish Council, added: “To get more money, they want the council to convert a 14th century listed building into a residential building and deprive the village of a pub that has been part of village life for over 600 years.”
Councillor Linda Harman said: “When a village loses a pub, it loses something really, really important, not just because it is a place to eat and drink, but also in terms of what it offers.”
The committee approved the motion with seven votes in favor and five against.
