Cannock pub saved from demolition
A Cannock pub has been saved from the bulldozer after plans to replace it with a supermarket were rejected.
Owners Punch Taverns wanted to knock down the Ascot Tavern, on Longford Road, and build a shop. But planning chiefs on Cannock council threw out the plans following a campaign from locals.
Bosses at Punch appealed against the decision but that has now been dismissed by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The company has previously said the venue had struggled to bring in customers and was being heavily subsidised in order to continue.
But planning inspector David Murray declared other pubs in the area were not close enough and the Ascot Tavern may still have a sustainable future as a pub.
He said: "The appellant says that if the pub had been as well supported by residents as the objections received suggest, then redevelopment with a retail use would not have been needed.
"Clearly a use that is not viable cannot be required to continue indefinitely.
"However, it appears to me that the alternative premises suggested by the appellants are some 800m away from the site.
"This appears to me to be a significant distance away from the local community to regard the existing facility as 'surplus'.
"Further, from the limited information available, I cannot be sure that a pub on the site cannot be made viable in the long term, including possibly by a different user or operator."
Landlady Dawn Holden, who has spearheaded the campaign to save the pub with her mother, said: "It is fantastic news, absolutely brilliant. Me and mum are chuffed to bits.
"When we took over the pub we knew it was up for sale so we have never been under any illusions.
"But we are still here and still going to carry on. It doesn't bring in a lot of money but for us it's about more than money. We want to keep it open because it is at the heart of the community.
"We have 20 blokes on the football team, as well as the darts and pool teams, and they with their girlfriends and wives always come back here and have their receptions here.
"It is where they grew up and that's what we are trying to keep."
Punch Taverns remained coy on the future of the pub.
A spokeswoman said: "In light of the decision, we are currently assessing all future avenues for the Ascot Tavern."
