Illegally demolished pubs must be rebuilt 'brick by brick' says CAMRA in wake of Crooked House loss
The Campaign for Real Ale is demanding that pubs that have been converted or demolished illegally must be rebuilt "brick by brick" in the wake of the loss of The Crooked House.
The real ale organisation has found that 30 sites have suffered the same fate in the first six months of this year.
CAMRA national chairman Nik Antona has labelled the practice a "nationwide scandal" after the Crooked House at Himley was demolished in the wake of a fire that gutted the landmark premises last weekend.
Now Gary Timmins, a national director, pub campaigns chairman and chairman of the Walsall branch, has written to Rachel Maclean, the Housing and Planning Minister, asking the Government to take action to deter unscrupulous developers.
He says in the letter: “The complete destruction of this iconic pub has brought the nationwide scandal of the non-enforcement of pub protection legislation to the forefront of people’s minds.”
Mr Antona said: “This damaging practice must stop, and those found to have converted or demolished pubs against planning rules must be required to restore the original building brick by brick. If local authorities won’t provide adequate planning enforcement, then central government needs to step in to make sure that unscrupulous developers know that they will face action if they do the same.
“It is a tragedy that loved community pubs continue to be converted or demolished without planning permission in England, and that weak planning rules in Scotland and Wales allow this to happen legally.
"Government across the UK and at all levels needs to step up and get serious about protecting the UK’s treasured pub stock.”
CAMRA’s pub data team now carry out checks against reported conversions and demolitions to check whether planning permission has been granted.
In 31 out of a total 95 cases in the period January to June it could not find a registered planning application in respect of the pubs, suggesting that the demolition or conversion has taken place without the required planning permission.
Mr Timmins says in the letter that he is writing about the case of the Crooked House and the wider scandal of property developers flouting planning rules that protect pubs without serious and consistent consequences.
He has asked for a meeting to discuss the data and how planning enforcement could be strengthened to deter developers from flouting legislation and ensure that illegally demolished or converted pubs are restored brick by brick.
