Flat development battle for BII Licensee of the Year

Marsden launched a campaign against developers Birmingham Properties Group amid concerns the proximity of the flats to the pub’s beer garden could force it to close. A petition supporting the pub has attracted almost 20,000 signatures in just two weeks.

He told the PMA the campaign was going well. “We started off thinking that we couldn’t really stop the application but could perhaps influence some of the design, but now I think we’re in with a fighting chance of stopping it. It’ll still be very difficult to completely block it, but we’ve had support from local councillors,” he said.

“Birmingham has a dark history of pubs suffering because of residential developments- I think we’ve really struck a cord.”

The licensee, who runs the pub alongside wife Dianne, presented Birmingham City Council with 500 letters objecting to the proposals and the petition last week.

Marsden also thanked pubco Greene King, who own the Prince of Wales, for its support.

“Greene King have really got on board and been very supportive. Although local support is great, really this is about planning. You’ve got to fight them on the legal side and Greene King have sent some really helpful letters from their planning consultants.”

A spokesman for Greene King added: “Keith does an outstanding job running the Prince of Wales, a fantastic pub full of character and much-loved by its customers. We are supporting him in his efforts to safeguard the future and heritage of this thriving community asset.”

Famous faces including BBC Radio 2’s Ken Bruce and TV presenter Adrian Chiles have signed the Prince of Wale’s petition.

Commenting on the petition, local Chris Trivett wrote: “This trend of putting residential buildings next to businesses and forcing them to change has got to stop.”

Developers chose not to attend a public meeting to discuss the pub’s future, but have previously said they have no desire to see the pub close and intent to invest in sound-proofing to prevent noise complaints.