{"id":419,"date":"2016-04-28T22:15:47","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T21:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/?p=419"},"modified":"2016-04-28T22:15:47","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T21:15:47","slug":"why-does-an-mp-get-involved-in-the-future-of-a-pub-thats-already-closed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/?p=419","title":{"rendered":"Why does an MP get involved in the future of a pub that’s already closed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ridge\"<\/a>That’s the question I asked myself over two years ago, when I read about Morrisons supermarket’s announcement of their decision to apply for a petrol station on the site of the ex\u00a0Ridge & Furrow pub.<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n The answer was that I didn’t believe a ‘study’\u00a0by their consultant claiming residents were resolutely behind this idea. It was partly that the site is not ideal for a petrol station \u2013 beside a popular GPs’\u00a0surgery and a stream, raising questions about run off and environmental pollution, and partly because this wasn’t what residents were telling me on the doorstep.\u00a0<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n So I did my own survey to thousands of residents, with a very high response rate, which confirmed my suspicions with almost 70% against. This destroyed the supermarket case that the petrol station was wanted.<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n So the scene was set for a planning battle \u2013 in fact several battles, including an appeal. All were lost by Morrisons, the last appeal only recently. We \u2013 principally a good combination of motivated residents, dedicated Councillors and a planning expert giving his time free of charge \u2013 got the pub listed as an asset of community value: the City Council did its objective job well and the right result was reached (even if I thought for the wrong reasons, but let’s not go there).<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n Victory? Only in a negative sense. Almost three years on the site is still boarded up, the car park blocked by rocks, the garden untended and no-one living in Abbey can be proud of that. Having got involved in the principle of local feeling, I didn’t, and don’t, think I can walk away at this stage from residents who feel ‘OK,\u00a0what now?’<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n I feel an obligation to work with those opposed to a petrol station to find what would be good, and to get a solution. The starting point was Morrisons. So I’ve been in contact and am delighted that this week, after a few mails and a conversation, the supermarket has confirmed that they have no plan to try again with another planning application for a petrol station. That’s a welcome step forward and I’m grateful to the supermarket for confirming it.<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n The next point is then what the community think would be a popular solution. I have have had suggestions of a nursery from several operators, and the concept of a nursery as well as a pub or family restaurant from Charlie Perkins of the Secret Garden, a stunning Eastgate St. nursery.\u00a0<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n Morrisons is not selling the site, so there is no opportunity at the moment for a community buy-out. Trust Inns remains the lessee, which means dealing with them. And as my father (who has been in the pub business for a long time) said, there probably isn’t enough to feed three mouths \u2013 landlord, lessee and a tenant manager.<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n At this stage a sensible MP would probably be slipping away from the battlefield \u2013 announcing victory, and letting others try and untangle the future. But I don’t feel I can do that. Victory is when a viable business provides a useful new service to the local Abbeydale and Abbeymead community, pays a commercial rent to the landlord and earns a decent living at the old Ridge & Furrow. We’re still a long way from that.<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n So the next stage is:<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n 1. Seeing who might be interested in establishing a business there (ideas please,\u00a0even though no specification\u00a0or rent details are available)<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n 2. Hearing what residents would most value (ditto: ideas please)<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n 3. Discussing with Trust Inns their plans and interest in the site<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n I will write to Trust Inns on that point, although they weren’t very forthcoming last time I contacted them, and something tells me this is going to need intervention high up. If that’s what it takes then so be it. This Jack Russell doesn’t give up easily.<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n Meanwhile, if you know of an interesting business looking for a new hub in a great location, then do let me know. I hope there will be enough interest for a community meeting before long.<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n This is all taking time: is it worthwhile? I think so, but I’m conscious that we are all impatient nowadays, and I share any frustration readers may have. The good news is that we are now over the petrol station phase of the site and can focus on a bold alternatives.<\/span>
\n \u00a0<\/span>
\n Let me know your thoughts on solutions on richard.graham.mp@parliament.uk<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That’s the question I asked myself over two years ago, when I read about Morrisons supermarket’s announcement of their decision to apply for a petrol station on the site of the ex\u00a0Ridge & Furrow pub. \u00a0 The answer was that I didn’t believe a ‘study’\u00a0by their consultant claiming residents were resolutely behind this idea. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":421,"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions\/421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abbeyviews.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}