CAMRA hits target of 300 ACV-listed pubs

The List Your Local campaign was set up by the organisation nine months ago with the aim of helping local communities stop their pubs being sold off.

Under the community right to bid powers introduced through the Localism Act, listing a pub as an ACV with the council means a pub can’t be sold off without the local community being told.

Mike Benner, CAMRA’s chief executive, said: “By listing their local, communities are ensuring that, if the pub is under threat in the future, there is a much-needed extra layer of protection that ‘stops the clock’ should it be put
up for sale.”

More needs to be done​

However, CAMRA has also said that more needs to be done to protect pubs from conversion to other uses, including closing planning loopholes that allow a pub to be converted to a supermarket without planning permission. This comes as new research shows two pubs a week were converted to supermarkets over the past two years.

The figures, based on national research carried out by CAMRA members, identified 208 pubs that have been converted to supermarkets since January 2012.

Tesco 'most prolific'​

The research also shows Tesco is by far the most prolific pub converter, with 110 in the past two years — that’s over three times more conversions than any other supermarket chain.

Sainsbury’s is a distant second with 29 pub conversions and even the Co-operative, which is part of a movement that backs community pub ownership, comes in third with 23.

“The big supermarket chains appear to be targeting pubs for conversion, despite the fact that these outlets are often profitable and popular.

“This behaviour shows a remarkable disregard for the wellbeing of communities that face losing their valued pubs — leaving local people powerless to step in,” said Benner.

“A key reason pubs are being targeted by supermarket chains is that a loophole in planning law allows a
pub to be converted to other uses, including a supermarket store, without planning permission. CAMRA is urging the Government to step in and close this loophole, so local communities would have a say before their pubs are lost.”

CAMRA is now looking to increase the number of pubs listed as ACVs to beyond the 400-pub mark.

Visit www.camra.org.uk/listyourlocal​ to list your local.