When the town of Sea Lake was left with no local pub, the community took matters into their own hands, renovating a derelict building and opening the Royal Hotel as the Sea Lake Hotel Co-operative Limited.

Rural journalist Michael Cavanagh caught up with the co-op’s chair, John Clohesy and secretary, Alison McClelland. In this podcast you will learn why the Royal Hotel is such an important part of the Sea Lake community, how their previous experience in running a hardware co-operative helped the community embrace the co-operative model again, and how running the Sea Lake Hotel Co-operative has united this small community, given the town a tourism boost and provided locals with a sense of self-agency.

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Links & Resources:

• Listen to all podcasts – https://coopfarming.coop/podcasts/
• Read about the Sea Lake Hotel Co-operative Limited – the community co-op that revitalised a condemned pub – https://coopfarming.coop/stories/community-co-op-revitalises-condemned-pub/
• Find out more about co-op farming – https://coopfarming.coop/
• Subscribe to our monthly Co-operative Farming e-newsletter – https://coopfarming.coop/subscribe-to-our-newsletter
• Contact the Meet the Co-op Farmers Podcast team – https://coopfarming.coop/contact/
• If you or your community want to know more about setting up and running a co-op, contact the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals – https://bccm.coop/