In local news: pizza challenge and development battles
1. All you can eat
Pubgoers at an Oxfordshire venue competed to see who could eat the most Margherita pizzas in 20 minutes.
Ten loyal punters took part in the challenge held at the Queen’s Head in Eynsham, as reported in the Witney Gazette.
The event was held in celebration of a new pizza shack being given the green light by council officers after a battle to acquire retrospective planning permission.
More than 200 punters had signed a petition to save the pizza oven and takeaway service, and so were keen to celebrate its survival.
2. Back in business
Derbyshire Live had a positive story about the pub trade this week, with a report on a beloved pub’s much anticipated reopening.
The Shrewsbury Arms in Kingstone reopened after a long battle to save it from being converted into housing – which saw the business close for a year.
It comes after local residents in the Kingstone Community Society rallied together to raise £290,000 to bring the pub into community ownership.
3. Planning U-turn
However, it was the opposite story in east London, where pubgoers are mourning news that a Haggerston pub cannot be saved from development.
The Acorn pub will be demolished to make way for private flats and a bar, Hackney Gazette reported.
This comes as councillors tried in vain to challenge a decision from planning officials to overturn their original decision to block a demolition.
The two parties disagreed about the heritage value of the site, with the newspaper reporting the planning inspector deemed the pub to have no social significance.
4. Community generosity
A Crewe pub was praised by its community this week after offering its car park to parents for use when they’re picking up and dropping off their children at school.
The Woodside pub stepped in to help after three nearby schools were facing safety concerns with heavy traffic in an area closer to the schools, Cheshire Live reported.
Wistaston and Willaston Police welcomed the news and called it a “practicable solution” to the issue of congestion.
5. Development fears
Almost 1,000 people are hoping to see a disused pub reopen in York city centre, according to newspaper The York Press.
The Jubilee pub has been closed for three years but former pubgoers are hoping to prevent it from being partially converted into flats with a petition.
Planning permission was submitted to turn the upper floors into flats and create a smaller pub, but campaigners said they feared the pub element would not last long in this development.
