It’s the saga that has shocked pub lovers this week, and today the tale of The Crooked House has taken another dark turn.
The Crooked House before its closure. Photograph: Peter Broster/Creative Commons
It turns out that the digger used for the demoliton of the building, following Saturday’s fire, had been hired at least a week before.
The plant hire business owner said the digger had been delievered to the customer and week and a half ago. He told Construction News that he wasn’t Mystic Meg and had no idea what the machinery was needed for.
Police have now confirmed that they are treating Saturday’s fire, prior to the alleged unauthorised demolition of the remains of the pub, as arson.
New owner ATE Farms, which purchased the pub from Marston’s last week, is remaining quiet on the matter.
The Campaign for Pubs has written to the prime minister calling on him to change the law to stop the predatory purchasing and asset-stripping of historic pubs.
“The unique Crooked House was shut and then put on the market by Marston’s plc for £675,000 a price well above the market value as a pub, and it was subsequently bought by the landfill company based next to the pub (with whom the pub and pub tenant had disputes regarding access),” says the campaign.
“Shortly after Marston’s ‘celebrated’ this sale, which sealed the fate of this world-famous pub, it burnt down in what police are regarding as an arson attack and then, before this was investigated and without the necessary permission from the local council, the current owners demolished it.
“This case has rightly caused outrage, with the Campaign for Pubs being amongst the first to call for the Crooked House to be rebuilt, brick-by-brick, something that the mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street has called for.”
The Campaign for Pubs is calling on the government to introduce its Give Pubs Protection policy. This would mean that any historic pub (50 years old or more) couldn’t be sold for alternative use until it had been marketed at an independently assessed value as a pub for at least a year.
This would stamp out the way that owners seek to profit from selling pubs at well in excess of their value as a pub for development or conversion.
Members of the group campaigned for the end to ‘permitted development rights’ for pubs, leading to a change in the law in 2017, but more action is needed, it says. The Campaign for Pubs also wants to see penalties for unauthorised demolitions or conversions increased substantially.
“What has happened to the historic and unique Crooked House pub is a national scandal, as well as a loss to the local community and its history and heritage,” said Greg Mulholland, campaigns director at the Campaign For Pubs.
“As well as a full investigation and appropriate action, this sad and unnecessary destruction of a world-famous pub must be the catalyst for change, to stop cynical and unscrupulous owners buying up pubs to convert and develop them and to stop the endemic asset-stripping of our historic pubs.”
Nik Antona, chair of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said: “The case of the Crooked House is a national tragedy, and we have now learnt that the full demolition of the building was not required following the safety inspection. The police and council must both act swiftly to investigate the fire and subsequent demolition of the building.
“The destruction of this iconic pub has brought a nationwide scandal to the forefront of people’s minds. Despite the government granting full planning protection to pubs in 2017 — meaning that change of use or demolition requires planning permission — we continue to see developers flouting the rules with pubs routinely converted or demolished without that permission in place.”
He added: “Figures released by CAMRA just last week showed that up to a third of closures and demolitions may be happening without the required planning permission, denying the local community the opportunity to save their local pub.
“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.”
