Former pubs minister Bob Neill accuses Enterprise Inns of "underhand behaviour"
Neill, who is also the MP for Bromley, was speaking debate in the House of Commons last night on the pub which is is set for demolition. Neill called the sale “a shabby and underhand means of closing this public house against the community’s wishes” and accused Enterprise Inns of “underhand behaviour”.
He raised concern that the pub had not been advertised for sale and the local community were given no notice. Last week, Neill attended a rally outside the boarded up pub where he told the current owner supermarket chain Lidl to “take your supermarket somewhere else.”
During a debate on the issue in the House of Commons last night he said: “In essence, the owner of the Porcupine pub, Enterprise Inns, has in my judgment deliberately let the pub run down and then sought to dispose of it for development. I am afraid Enterprise Inns has a bad track record in that regard. It is becoming frankly notorious for such behaviour.
"Its four annual reports show an alarming decline in the total number of pubs it operates, from 7,399 in September 2009 down to 5,902 in September 2012. Enterprise Inns seems to have a deliberate policy of running down its estate. It is quite clear from its annual report that, having disposed of more than 400 pubs in the last year, Enterprise Inns is disposing of assets to pay down debt. It is a company that, frankly, has not had good trading results. To my mind, it seems to be behaving more like a property company than a brewing company.”
Neill called on current community pubs minister Brandon Lewis to take action against Enterprise Inns.
He said: “It is reprehensible that this pattern of conduct by Enterprise Inns seems to be designed to circumvent the Government’s work to give greater protection to public houses. The Government have taken important steps, by creating the ability to list places such as the Porcupine as assets of community value and by giving greater protections in the national planning policy framework.
“The community in Mottingham was denied the opportunity to make an application to have the Porcupine listed as an asset of community value in advance, because it was given no notice.”
Neill said he support the the Campaign for Real Ale “List your Local” campaign, which aims to get pubs listed as community assets. This means that if a pub is up for sale the community will have six months to find the money to put a bid into save it.
Neill said: “My message to anyone with a pub owned by Enterprise Inns in their community is that they should get it listed as an asset of community value now, because they cannot trust Enterprise Inns not to sell it from under them without telling them.”
Community pubs minister Brandon Lewis responded and said he would look into the planning issues highlighted by this case.
Lewis said: “There is sometimes a gap when a company buys a property that was not already listed and does not need to demolish it. The first a resident may know about it is when the boarding goes up advertising whichever company that happens to be. That may be the first indication that Enterprise Inns, or whoever, has sold it off.
“As I have said, we do not intend to change planning laws per se, but we do need to ensure that whatever we do is proportionate. The listing of a community asset is a simple, light-touch, but effective way of protecting a pub.
"However, I accept that there may be an opportunity to take that a step further in order to prevent circumstances in which a resident does not know that a property has been sold or has become a Tesco, a Lidl or a McDonald’s until the store opens or the boarding goes up. I am prepared to look at that, but I must make it clear that, as I have outlined, we are not going to make any substantive changes to change of use and general planning that are disproportionate.”
