CAMRA wins second judicial review in battle with city council over pub

A listed Victorian pub interior has embroiled City of Bradford Council in a legal dispute with consumer group the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).

It centres on the Cock and Bottle pub, whose Victorian interior is listed as Grade II and appears on Camra’s national inventory of historic pub interiors.

Camra won a judicial review earlier this year over a planning decision to allow listed building consent for alterations to convert the building to a restaurant. It was the first time the group had brought legal proceedings of this kind.

It has now won a second High Court case after the council again gave permission for the changes.

Camra chair Colin Valentine said: “This is a landmark case of national importance and is an important step in our fight for the protection of Britain’s few remaining heritage pubs.

“Concerted action by Camra’s dedicated volunteers, and the subsequent case brought by lawyers Susan Ring of Richard Buxton Solicitors and Richard Harwood QC, has challenged the illegal ripping-out of the pub’s listed interior and is another step forward to seeing public justice done.”

A Bradford spokesman said: “Despite its valuable Victorian interior, repeated attempts to operate the Cock and Bottle public house as a going concern have failed.

“To prevent deterioration and dereliction of the empty building, the only realistic alternative is to allow its conversion into an alternative use, as no other proposals exist. The majority of the historic interior of the building remains and has not been torn out.”

He said a new report would go to the council’s planning committee when it re-determines the issue. Bradford’s legal costs were £8,000.

Mark Smulian