Star revises refurbishment plans for historic pubs
Star Pubs & Bars confirmed it would be revising refurbishment plans for the Black Bull and White Swan sites in Otley, Yorkshire, following opposition.
The Otley Pub Club opposed plans to “reposition” the 16th century Black Bull as a “a modern, stylish pub” and proposals that would have seen the 18th century White Swan decked out with “industrial-style furniture” for “a trendy, city-centre feel”.
Sophie Goodall, head of corporate affairs at the pubco said: “We’ve had positive meetings with both the Otley Pub Club and local MP Alex Sobel.
“We always said we would listen to the views of local community and look forward to sharing our revised plans in due course.”
Celebrating heritage
Otley Pub Club president Greg Mulholland of spoke of his delight at the news.
He said: “This is very positive news and we are hopeful that this means that the proposals for both pubs will be appropriate for these two historic pubs.
“We thank Star Pubs & Bars for engaging with Otley Pub Club and the wider community following our campaign, and are pleased they will discuss this with the current licensees of both pubs to discuss how best to invest into each of them, celebrating the history and heritage as well as assisting each pub to be as successful as possible.”
Mulholland said the campaign was not over just yet.
He added: "We will continue to press Star to understand that the White Swan is a thriving community pub and must remain so and we hope their plans will involve building on that and working with Chris Shippey, who has shown himself to be an excellent and popular landlord who has built up the business and a very loyal clientele.
“We look forward to working with Star, as Otley’s biggest pub owner and hope that all their pubs succeed, with the right offer, the right licensee and fair and realistic terms.”
