Too many local pubs have been lost. While some will have reached the end of their use as a pub, many are simply lost because it’s more lucrative to convert them into flats, HMOs, or other uses, pushing otherwise viable pubs to closure against the wishes of local communities. Even when a change of use is accepted too often the quality of conversions are often very poor with little regard given to the heritage value of the building or the established built form of the town.
You only have to look around Chadderton, Oldham and Royton to see examples of once great pubs lost to low quality conversions or even demolition, losing entirely the heritage and social history of the town.
Under new proposals planning rules will require applicants to prove the pub is no longer viable and have evidence of active marketing.
Put together with added protections to register pubs as ‘Assets of community value’ which not only protect pubs but also give time for local communities to take them on, and the newly announced Community Right to Buy fund the fight back against decline is coming together.
But it’s more than just bricks and mortar, it’s about recognising the race to the bottom on planning has to end. If we don’t value what we have, it is lost forever.
All of us recognise that not every pub holds the same value to a local community, and also that there are many factors which mean a pub may not be able to continue its former use, but without proper safeguards and a route for the community to protect those which are valued, the odds are stacked against communities and that urgently needs rebalancing.
I raised this issue during a recent meeting with council officials and I was encouraged by the response.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 