search using the case number: APP/T5720/A/12/2172973
Click on the ‘Comment on this case’ link at the bottom
In the new form that opens select ‘Interested party / person’ from the drop down list.
1)
I objected previously to the planning application for the redevelopment of the Morden Tavern site. My objection still stands, and I would like to add that this matter has been of great local interest and has a lot of local support. Therefore may I please respectfully request that this application be dealt with by a full Public Inquiry here in Merton, as requested by Richard Tracy, our London Assembly Member, and the by the Campaign’s planning consultant. The Community deserves to see justice being done for the Tavern.
2)
While I may not have previously have objected to this planning application, the loss of the last of the three historic St Helier pubs to redevelopment is completely unacceptable in terms of local amenity, local history and as a valued community facility. The garden is a unique space for the community and a wonderful place for children to play while families eat and drink. Such places are very rare in Merton. There is no community space left on the St Helier estate.
I hear the Campaign group want to open a community enterprise project, running the pub as a cooperative and allowing locals to use the venue. This is a much better ‘value for money’ use. This site belongs to everyone in Merton and should not be sold for private profit. Consequently the campaign has attracted a large local following and support.
Therefore may I respectfully request that this application be dealt with by a full Public Inquiry. Only that way can Merton’s residents finally discover the truth behind the shady deal done behind closed doors between our council officers and the developer who stands to gain so disproportionally from the grant of planning consent. Please hold the hearing in public so that everyone can see justice being done right here in the borough.
http://bit.ly/KTshOl
ReplyDeleteTo informed observers of the pub sector there is no doubt that the Morden Tavern is a viable pub business which only came onto the market due to various private equity driven business entities looking to maximise their individual returns by agreeing lucrative back room deals which benefited themselves to everyone else's, specifically the local community's, direct detriment.
Andrew Judge has this introduction on his blog's biography page:
"If you are a resident with a problem please get in touch with me, by working with local residents and taking action to improve our community we can make this a great place to live. ...
"By background I’m a barrister, an environmental lawyer and activist. I have been involved in many campaigns and projects, represented and advised many people."
There is a disjuncture between Andrew's aspiration to support local residents against his valuing a development proposal on the grounds that there is no viable business case against it happening. This does not square particularly well with what looks to be his good record of community engagement. Perhaps he is missing a point?
I'd argue that what St Helier Pub Group has achieved already is, on its own, compelling evidence that there is likely to be a strong, viable business case for retaining the pub as a profitable and sustainable Community Asset if it were operated competently with that outcome in mind. This is a community group, not a well funded, private equity focused developer honed to achieving its own profitable ends and it needs time to grow and develop strength. To prove the business case the group must be given breathing space needed to research and assemble the many options and routes to finance that are available even in this economic climate.
The pub was built as a community resource and it can undoubtedly be reborn as such if it is invested in wisely and made relevant to today's audience.
Andrew could drop his official skepticism, and his laudable defence of the planning department's massive gaffe in letting this local corker slip through to getting egg on the council's face, and wholeheartedly get behind the community to work toward re-establishing this pub as a vibrant hub of contemporary relevance to its community it was designed and built to be.
The Morden Tavern is a rare opportunity to establish what could become a national beacon for what should happen to community assets that have not been looked after by responsible owners for far too long. It should be seen as a remarkable opportunity for bringing local community, elected representatives and administration, together with statutory bodies and a much wider range of associated and interested parties, together to make a pub business fit for 21st century society.