Two more pubs issued Article 4 Directions

05-Mar-2015 - Last updated on 27-Jun-2024 at 11:35 GMT

The Save the Chesham group had been camapigning for the protection for two years

The Chesham Arms in Hackney, east London, and The Wellington in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, are the latest pubs to be issued immediate Article 4 Directions, following long-standing campaigning from locals.

Hackney Borough Council yesterday awarded the Chesham Arms with the protection, which removes permitted development rights meaning the pub cannot be changed to a different use without planning permission. The owner of the property Mukund Patel had converted part of the upper floor into a flat and is currently using the ground floor as an office.

The Save the Chesham campaign group said the Article 4 Direction cannot retrospectively change the temporary permission for office use, which runs until March 2016. However, after this point, the building will have to be used as a pub - or left empty.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the group said: “This puts us in a list of just 31 pubs in England and we are easily the most heavily protected pub in Hackney… Rejoice and raise a glass… The re-opening of the pub just came one huge step closer today.”

The pub, which has been closed since October 2012, is already listed as an asset of community value, after winning a landmark tribunal hearing in 2013.

Campaign chairman Jonathan Sockett said: "We are grateful for the continued support of Hackney Council in safeguarding the long-term future of The Chesham Arms. Of all the pubs in Hackney, this is by far the most protected in planning policy terms. It is therefore all the more frustrating that the pub remains closed at the moment.

"Now that the owner has no choice but to keep The Chesham Arms as a pub, we hope that he will put it on the market at a fair price without any further delay. We've been fighting this campaign for nearly 900 days and our resolve to see the pub relaunched remains as strong as it ever was".

Chesterfield Borough Council also issued The Wellington in New Whittington with an Article 4 Direction yesterday and listed the pub as an asset of community value.

The pub was one of the 202 sites Marston’s sold to New River Retail in November 2013. Residents were concerned the pub would be converted into a supermarket, after the Co-Operative Group agreed a deal with the property company to build 63 stories on the sites and it was found New River had offered money to licensees that co-operate with the plans.