Fresh hope in bid to save Sheffield pubs for the community

Members of the Sheffield branch of the Campaign for Real Ale have met with the city council to discuss a plan of action after applications to have nine local pubs declared ‘assets of community value’ were turned down.

The group - who raised concerns earlier this month that the requirements in Sheffield were being ‘gold-plated’ - has now agreed to resubmit one of the failed applications, for The Three Tuns on Silver Street Head in the city centre, with a more detailed dossier of evidence making the case for the pub as a community asset.

If the bid is successful, further resubmissions could follow.

In total CAMRA lodged applications for 11 pubs last year. Decisions on The Castle Inn at Bradway and The Cremorne on London Road are still outstanding. The group also applied to Derbyshire Dales Council to have The Red Lion at Litton and The Bull’s Head at Foolow listed. Both bids were approved.

Community asset status gives residents six months to put together a bid to buy land or property they want to save if it is put on the market.

Dave Pickersgill, Sheffield and District CAMRA’s pub heritage officer, said the meeting with the council’s legal services team was ‘amicable’.

“The point they kept going back to was that they wanted lots of evidence. But they did say our applications were almost there,” he said. “We really hammered home the point that every application we put in has been through the mill at CAMRA HQ, by comparing it with successful applications elsewhere in the country.”

Mr Pickersgill added: “What we have agreed to do is put in another application just for one pub. I’m not sure how it’s going to go. We’ll see what happens and then take it from there. We would certainly put more applications in.”

It is understood Sheffield Council intends to be ‘more presciptive’ in future about the information needed for bids to be successful.

Assets remain on the list for five years. Once listed, pubs cannot be knocked down or turned into shops without planning permission.

Housing plans lodged

Plans have been lodged to build two three-bedroom houses on a patch of land behind Champs sports bar on Loxley New Road, Malin Bridge. Documents say the proposals are part of a drive by applicant Punch Taverns to ‘bolster income’ and ‘help pubs survive’.

Meanwhile plans to create 20 flats on the site of the Ball Inn, Heeley, have been withdrawn.