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The pub saving toolkit – part 2
instead try ‘we urge the Council to register the Royal Oak as
an Asset of Community Value’. Decision makers always
prefer being encouraged to do something, rather than to
not do something. Stay positive.
Whether you use a paper petition, online petition, a
manual email list, or simply rely on your website and the
assumption that your supporters will regularly check it for
updates, following a prompt via Twitter, never lose sight of
the fact that your objective is bums on seats. So long as you
have informed leadership who can articulate what it is that
needs to be done, in layman’s terms if necessary, your foot
soldiers are your power base. It is not a given that hundreds
of planning objections will definitely result in your pub being
saved from conversion or demolition, but it certainly helps.
The planning system is geared up to resist the loss of
‘valued’ pubs. The decision makers are politicians or their
agents. People power is very persuasive. Always let your
ward Councillors know about your campaign. Attend one
of their surgeries or email them. Keep on at them if you get
no response initially; it is their job to represent the interests
of the community. Having local Councillors on your side in
planning matters is of inestimable value.
We will close on a short case study from outside London.
The 16th century Chequer Inn, in the village of Ash near
Dover in Kent, was sold by Punch Taverns to a developer.
This sale was in spite of two offers for the property from pub
operators. The developer applied to turn the Grade II-listed
ACV pub into a single 6 bedroom house. Locals mourned
the loss of the pub, which closed in 2014, but were led to
believe by the Council that the ACV status was worthless as
the pub was simply not viable (have we not heard that
phrase somewhere before?). The ACV status was revoked
and the officer report recommended the grant of consent
to turn into a house. When this was brought to our attention
by a journalist and avid London Drinker reader, we noted
that only six objections against the proposal had been
lodged on the Council website but no decision had been
reached. A bit of campaigning and some technical advice
to a particularly motivated local then resulted in some 95
objections within the space of a month. The officer report
was revised but still recommended converting the pub. At
a recent planning meeting at Dover Council offices, some
150 villagers turned out with placards and banners,
supported by the local CAMRA branch and a sprinkling of
celebrities. Councillors voted unanimously to refuse
consent. The developer has now put the pub on the market,
and it has recently been listed again as an ACV. Swift and
accurate communications driven by strong leadership were
able to mobilise some 300 previously apathetic villagers into
action. The clear show of support had the desired effect and,
so far, the planning system has worked for the thirsty pub
lovers of Ash. The planning system is your greatest friend
in saving pubs but can also be a formidable foe. You must
learn to control it and exploit it to your own ends. That will
be the subject of Part 3 of the Pub Saving Toolkit in the next
edition of London Drinker. Until then, keep the faith.
James Watson – Regional Pub Protection Advisor
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