AN ELEVENTH-hour campaign has been launched to save Bromsgrove’s Greyhound pub after its owners submitted a notification of demolition to the district council.
The deadline for comments was originally today (Friday) but that has now been extended until October 3 after ward councillor Luke Mallett requested the application be put before Bromsgrove District Council Planning Committee.
Coun Mallett said: “It’s outrageous that the pub has been run down and rents upped to make it unviable.
“It has never been given a fair chance to be run at a profit.
“It’s simply not right that it should be demolished on this flimsy basis and in particular without any clear plans as to what will replace it from the new owners.”
Members of Redditch and Bromsgrove CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) have also issued a rallying call to residents to have their say and a proposal to have the pub listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) has been submitted to the district council this morning.
Gez Quinn, the branch’s chairman, said: “The demolition of the Greyhound Inn would be a further nail in the coffin of community life in Bromsgrove, following the losses of the Sugarbrook, The Ivy Cottage, The Wishing Well and the Manchester Inn in recent years to name but a few.
“Pubs have long been the centre of many communities, and it is up to local authorities, under the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure that community resources, such as the Greyhound, are preserved for the good of the local community and not lost to greedy developers.
“Just because a pub isn’t currently doing well, doesn’t mean it can’t be turned around, but once it’s gone it’s gone forever.”
An application was submitted in 2013 to build homes on the car park at the back of the pub and, although there were objections, it was granted on appeal in 2015.
Since then, campaigners claim, the building has been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair by the previous owners and the application has now gone in to demolish it.
Currently, because there is no protection on the building, if Bromsgrove District Council’s planning committee has no objections to the methods of demolition, the developers will be within their rights to bulldoze the pub after October 4.
The Standard contacted the owners Greyhound in Development Ltd but no-one was available to comment at the time we went to press.
Those wanting to view the application can go to http://tinyurl.com/jxtzy8w and have their say by clicking ‘make a comment’.
Objections can also be lodged by emailing [email protected] quoting application ’16/0832? and putting ‘Demolition of the Greyhound Public House’ in the subject line.
