July 2012 Newsletter
The St Helier Pub Group
(Formerly The Campaign for the Morden Tavern)
Public Hearing - Wednesday 1st August
Morden Civic Centre
Starting at 9.30am
HELP US SAVE YOUR PUB
- The St Helier Pub Group are appealing to all residents who are able to visit the hearing on the 1st August to show they care about our historic asset.
- This is your opportunity to speak to and/or listen if you wish to an independent inspector who will decide the fate of the Morden Tavern.
- The developer Reef Estates wants to build shops and flats on the Public House forever removing the chance of St Helier Estate having a community hub.
- The St Helier Pub Group intend to open the pub as a cooperative owned public house run by the community for the community.
Let’s show the Planning Inspector that the Council and the developers they can no longer assume they can build whatever they like on our estate without first listening to us, the community of St Helier.
You can drop in at the Civic Centre for the hearing for as long as you like to show your support during the day.
Can you prove the strength of feeling in St Helier by making a visit to the hearing on Wednesday 1st August?
If you wish to speak you must arrive in the morning to register, before the hearing starts.
A long hard Campaign
The St Helier community has been fighting to save its community asset The Morden Tavern from this threat for two years. The Estate has become famous across South London for its battle against this project and the level of community support it has enjoyed.
The council and the developer never expected this to happen, they underestimated the commitment and resolve of the St Helier community.
This will be the best chance we have to forever protect this site from future development if the inspector decides to reject the planning application by Reef Estates. The rejection would protect the garden from being built on and make the site very unattractive to any other developers making any alterations difficult.
What is a Public Hearing?
Simply put the independent planning inspector who is appointed by the Department of Communities and Local Government will sit and listen to various presentations from all sides in the case.
There are time limits for each group, some for example the developer get longer and ‘third’ parties like the Campaign Group will get five minutes.
However the inspector has to also read any written submissions. The Campaign group along with The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) have submitted planning arguments to reject the application as well as secure a decision to protect the site from future development threats.
The inspector will be looking to see the strength of public support on this case.
This is why we are asking for people to find some time to either spend the day or make a visit to the hearing.
When will we get a decision?
It usually takes around seven to eight weeks after the hearing for the inspector to publish their report and give a final judgement on an application. However as it is the holiday season this may delay the outcome. We will ensure that we publish the findings in a Newsletter as soon after this time as possible as well as via our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MordenTavern and Twitter account: http://twitter.com/SaveMordenTav
Cooperative Pub Plans
Thank you to all those who have expressed an interest in investing in a community cooperative to buy and refurbish the Morden tavern before re-opening it as a new pub and community centre. Shares
will be £250 each and groups can buy
a single share between them.
Until the planning application is killed off, plans remain on hold, but we are continuing to work on them behind the scenes. If you are interested in investing or just have ideas for the pub and community centre, let us know at the email address below or on our Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/MordenTavern
What happened to my objection letter?
1300 printed letters of objection were submitted by St Helier residents through the Campaign Group. We do not know how many additional objections were submitted online or independently.
Every submission strengthens the case for the inspector to reject this application. It also sends a strong message to Merton Council that the St Helier Community wants its asset returned.
The Campaign Committee are:
David Smith (Chair), Dale Ingram, Nick Brickell, Alfred Spiteri, Henry Basing, and Harry Macdonald.
tavern.development@virginmedia.com
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