“NewRiver Retail have seriously underestimated the challenges and opposition that they will face in trying to sell profitable community pubs and convert them into convenience stores and other uses. Local residents and pub campaigners will be mounting sustained opposition to prevent their valued local pub being converted into a supermarket.
“With one in 10 high street shops empty, it makes no sense that retailers are targeting pubs. Our message to NewRiver Retail is that they should be focused on reviving existing retail spaces rather than seeking to destroy valued community pubs serving local communities, and we call on them to take every step to sell pubs as going concerns.
“The fact that this sale has happened is a result of a dysfunctional planning system, which means pubs are regarded as easy pickings by developers. No one can convincingly argue that supermarkets provide a similar community amenity to a local pub. Camra will be using this development to press home the case for tougher planning protection for pubs and for greater consumer consultation when they are threatened with alternative use.”
Source: Campaign for Real Ale
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