Six months after the destruction of the Crooked House, CAMRA is calling on ministers to commit to extra protections for pubs to avoid them being illegally converted or demolished.
The consumer organisation, which last week met Levelling Up minister Lee Rowley MP to discuss protecting the nation’s pubs, wants more enforcement powers for local councils in England to stop pubs being illegally converted or demolished. This would include the ability for councils to force demolished locals to be rebuilt brick by brick.
In England, changing the use of a pub or demolishing one requires planning permission. But figures compiled by CAMRA showed that last year up to a third of demolitions may be happening without the required planning permission.
The campaign is also calling for similar protections for pubs in the planning system in Wales, which don’t currently exist, and for a tightening of loopholes in Scotland to prevent pubs being allowed to be demolished without planning permission.
Commenting on the Crooked House case, CAMRA chairman, Nik Antona, said: “Six months on, this national scandal rightly still angers people up and down the country. Our pubs are at the heart of community life across the UK and must be protected as a vital part of our social fabric.”
