CAMRA and think tank urge councils to use powers to protect pubs from closure

Councils should make creative use of their powers to protect pubs from closure, a report from the Local Government Information Unit and the Campaign for Real Ale has said.

The report found pubs are closing at the rate of 28 a week, despite almost all the 49 councils interviews saying they considered pubs valued community amenities worthy of protection.

Councils can use the National Planning Policy Framework to protect pubs as community assets, but too few do, according to the report Public Houses: How Councils and Communities Can Save Pubs.

It called on the Government to close loopholes through which pubs can be converted or demolished and for the removal of permitted development rights so that planning permission would be needed before a pub could be converted to another use.

Many councils including Babergh, Lewisham and Cambridge had used Article 4 directions to achieve this, it noted.

Councils should support communities who want to list pubs as assets of community value and give them conservation protection where possible.

LGIU chief executive Jonathan Carr-West said: “Pubs play a vital role in many communities. But across the country, this precious resource is being lost at an alarming rate.

“Councils play a crucial part in protecting pubs and we hope that local authorities will draw inspiration from the examples featured in this report and act now to prevent our pubs from disappearing forever.”

Tom Stainer, head of communications at Camra, said weak planning laws were “a major contributing factor to pubs closing and central government need to give councils greater powers so they can do more to protect pubs from developers”.

Mark Smulian