Following the news that Whitbread are planning to close over 100 pubs next to Premier Inn hotels to convert them into restaurants for hotel residents or turned into additional hotel rooms, CAMRA are calling for a legal definition of a pub.
CAMRA’s pub-saving campaigners are concerned about how the conversions have taken place saying that Whitbread have been able to use a grey area in the current planning system in England that makes it easier to claim that pubs are in fact restaurants, which makes change of use more likely to be granted.
CAMRA’s National Planning Policy Adviser, Paul Ainsworth, said, “Concerningly, it appears that most of these pubs have been closed to the public, under the argument that they are restaurants, and worryingly most local authorities have accepted that.
“We are now campaigning for a legal definition of a pub for planning purposes so that if you can buy a drink at the bar without purchasing a meal, the venue would be considered a pub.
“In the wake of scandals such as the scandalous Crooked House demolition, unacceptably high levels of unlawful conversions and demolitions, and now this, we need the new Government to act now to strengthen planning protections and enforcement options for local councils.”
Tom Stainer, CAMRA Chief Executive, has written to Whitbread asking the Board to reconsider their decision, highlighting inconsistencies between the company’s stated values and the actions that have been taken.
In the letter, Stainer says, “Closing a pub – which is a community amenity facility and gathering space – to the local community that it serves is not only contrary to the aims of your Environmental, Social and Governance strategy, it will also impact upon your ability to maintain that you are a ‘trusted brand’.