BII Licensee of the Year loses battle against flat development

Developer Birmingham Properties Group has been given approval for the flats next to the Prince of Wales in Moseley, but Marsden is determined he won’t give up fighting against it.

He said: “There will be some legal things that we will do but can’t tell you right now, and some pub activities. We will try and run a campaign whereby if they build these sites, they will struggle to sell them. We will run a campaign to reduce the price of these apartments.

“We will put up quite a few obstacles for the developers and we are ready for the next round. It's a long slog but we're in it for the long run and ready to fight.”

The pub did start a petition to save it from the development, which gained almost 20,000 signatures​ since the battle between the developers and the pub began nine months ago.

Marsden explained the pub relies heavily on the beer garden, which sees hundreds of customers enjoying it - especially over the weekend.

“It shows a shocking disregard for the pub by the developer and the process. If you are in a pub that is a wet-led boozer and the big nights are Fridays and Saturdays, it will be put at risk by 46 luxury apartments on the boundary fence.”

Marsden also expressed his upset with the local authority: “It is very disappointing that the city have failed to protect a very well loved pub and voted in favour of a development of luxury flats.”

“The pub needed people to speak up and councillors failed to do that. It's very poor that the planning officer who put in the recommendation did not visit the site during one of our events.”

Developers Birmingham Properties Group said: “We look forward to developing a high quality residential scheme and working closely with all our neighbours, including the Prince of Wales pub, to ensure the project runs smoothly.”

Last year, Marsden told The Morning Advertiser ​that he felt his campaign was going well​ and thanked pubco Greene King, which owns the pub, for its support.