Developer's appeal may revive Morden Tavern deal article - 24/4/12

http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/9665743.Appeal_may_revive_Morden_Tavern_deal/?ref=mr

London Drinker magazine Feb/Mar 2012

Co-op pub plan announced article - Wimbledon Guardian 21/2/12

newsletter February 2012

The St Helier Pub Group

Formerly The Campaign for the Morden Tavern February 2012

VICTORY!

As many of you may have read or heard the planning application made by a developer to build flats and shops on the Morden Tavern site was comprehensively rejected by Merton Council’s Planning Application Committee on 12.1.12 (see PAC report on the back). 

As a result and in recognition of the evolving nature of the campaign the committee formally known as the Cam-paign for Morden Tavern is to be renamed and reorganised as The St Helier Pub Group. The new group is expanding to take in various advisors and business professionals committed to purchasing the site of the Morden Tavern to be run as a cooperative venture (See ‘Own a Share of The Morden Tavern’ on the back).

As the CMT dissolves we would like to make a point of thanking those who publicly supported us over the last two years. Our heartfelt gratitude to local councillors Dennis Pearce and Rich-ard Hilton who were always on hand to support us with advice and time for the Campaign. The CMT roll of honour (alphabetical order);

Darren Johnson London Assembly Member
Diana Coman, Parliamentary Candidate
Geoff Strawbridge, CAMRA
Jenny Jones Mayoral Candidate
Ken Livingston Mayoral Candidate
Martin Butler, CAMRA
Michael Tuffrey London Assembly Member
Councillor Iain Dysart
Richard Tracey London Assembly Member
Robert Kyriakides & Clare Butler, Kyriakides and Braier, Solicitors
Ross Baker & Lynn Whitfield, Surrey Bat Group
Siobhan McDonagh MP
Stephen Hammond MP

Special gratitude to Dale Ingram, a planning consultant from CAMRA without whose help, time and energy the Campaign would have struggled to understand the complex planning ar-guments.

And most important of all - YOU the wonderful residents of St Helier who always wished us luck and were happy to sign petitions and letters of objection, well done to you, this is

YOUR VICTORY!

What Happened at the PAC?

" One of the most important aspects of England's planning system is that it is discretionary; that is, that it is up to the local planning authority to decide what is right for their local communities, regardless of na-tional or regional planning policy. One of the ways this is exercised is that planning committees' decisions are entirely independent of the planning department's officers recommendations.

Very occasionally it becomes obvious that whatever the local planners think is appropriate does not match local residents' own thoughts and feelings. In these instances, you may find that the planners recommend approval but the planning committee vote against the application. This happened in 2010 in Wandsworth on the Springfield Hospital redevelopment proposals, where there were 4000 written objections to a planning application to put hundreds of new houses on land near the hospital.

We saw another welcome example of this in Merton on January 12th when the Planning Applications Committee exercised both their discretion and their independence to refuse consent for the highly damaging scheme for the Morden Tavern after a hard fought battle by the Campaign for Morden Tavern which generated over a thousand written objections to the Reef Estates scheme.

Be sure to thank your local councillor next time you see him or her in the street or on your doorstep, especially if they are a member of the planning committee. Or go one step further and write to them by email or a note via the Civic Centre."

Dale Ingram, CAMRA

Own a share of the Morden Tavern…

The rejection of Reef Estate's planning application means that Reef now owns the leasehold but with little chance of acquiring the freehold or carrying out its development. The Campaign for Morden Tavern's success against the planning application has given birth to the 'St Helier Pub Group' (SHPG), a group of individuals looking to re-establish a pub / community centre on the site.

The St Helier Pub Group has approached Reef to buy the leasehold from them to set up a pub for the people of Morden owned by the people of Morden. As a co-operative free house, liberated from the control of the big pub companies, the Tavern has to be an attractive option to any landlord willing to run a refurbished, thriving community pub. The Planning Application Committee themselves said that they be-lieved the St Helier Community should be given the chance to own and run the site for themselves.

In the model of a number of other co-operative pubs that have rescued community pubs from closure, such as The Hope in Carshalton, we know that the pub will be popular with families by day and adults by night. Bustling with life, the refurbished pub will be able to serve improved food and drink compared to the tied pub. The refurbishment will also see that the large gardens are properly used.

With the support of the local community, the site is a commercially viable business and our business plan shows that with the correct investment, the pub's future will be assured. You can become a part-owner of the pub for as little as £250. Not only will investors get to help a part of the community survive, but they will of course share in the profits. We are looking for lots of investors as the greater the community's stake, the better run and more popular it will be.

If you are interested in hearing more about this op-portunity, please send an email to tavern.development@virginmedia.com and we will keep your details on file and send a copy of the busi-ness plan in due course. Serving the community will remain the focus of this new organisation and we have already received many ideas and offers of help for this new venture. But we can only do it if we get your support. Henry Basing.

Campaign seeks bar work as pub site saved article - Wimbledon Guardian 19/1/2012

Press Release - 13/1/12

PRESS RELEASE

13/1/12

Campaigners for the Morden Tavern woke with sore heads this morning after a surprise but entirely commendable vote by Merton's planning committee last night to refuse consent for a development scheme which would have led to the effective loss of the last of the St Helier Estate's three historic 'mega' pubs. The scheme for 23 properties would also have fatally compromised the Tavern's garden setting, contrary to national planning policies PPS3 and PPS5. The committee relied on several of their own LDF policies on urban design and will also be referencing new policies in the London Plan 2011 in their decision notice. Interestingly, they are not intending to rely on their Pubs Protection Policy, L16.

Campaign member Dale Ingram. planning consultant and pubs preservation officer for local SW London Branch, in her no-holds-barred speech to the Committee, invoked the Localism Bill, the draft NPPF and the revised London Plan and renewed her warning that consenting the scheme might result in the Secretary of State calling the application in. Recent planning wins in Hackney on the Wenlock Arms and at the Grove in Wimbledon were also referenced. She said "If ever there were a textbook response by a community in Localism terms to a threat to something they cherish, it has been the Campaign for Morden Tavern". The Localism element of the objection was supported by Conservative members of the planning committee.

The 1932 Tavern by renowned pub architect Sir Harry Redfern (famous for the 'Carlisle Experiment') was Locally Listed in 2010 after research by ConservationWorks revealed its historic and architectural significance. It has won a reprieve which will give the Campaign group time to develop their business plan to turn the pub into a community co-op, inspired by the example of the Hope in Carshalton and CAMRA's 'Pub is the Hub' initiative. The building, with its typical array of large rooms on the ground floor and multiple living and bedrooms upstairs offers a myriad of opportunities for community-focused activity, such as a creche, doctor's surgery, cycle 'park and walk' facility or small pub hotel and so on. 

The Morden Tavern mets all the criteria for inclusion on a Local Asset Register. The Registers are being created as part of the Localism Bill, and are intended specifically to protect local community facilities such as pubs, libararies, scout halls and the like. A building's Local Asset designation will become a material planning consideration. CAMRA branches should be encouraged to ask their local planning authority what steps are being taken to create Local Asset Registers in their area, and to nominate all the pubs in their areas for recognition by registration.

Long faces all round on the developer's team as they left the Council chamber last night, after their architect and his scheme were roundly criticised by members of the planning committee.

Top marks to David Smith, the Campaign's doughty leader whose vision, committment and unremitting sheer hard work has kept the wheels on the Campaign over the past two years. Credit also to the other members of the Tavern Campaign committee Nick, Henry, Harry and Alfred who have made the struggle worthwhile and whose committment to their local community has been exemplary.

Finally, grateful thanks to members and the committee of the SW London branch of CAMRA and the London Pubs Group for their support and encouragement."

Cheers!

Dale L Ingram

Pubs Preservation Officer, SW London CAMRA

Director, ConservationWorks

Pub planning 'hypocrisy' in a tale of two taverns article - Wimbledon Guardian 19/1/12