Use or lose pubs, councillor warns (From Bucks Free Press)
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Use or lose pubs, Wycombe District Council member warns
4:13pm Sunday 28th February 2010 in News By Oliver Evans
The Halfway House in High Wycombe has been boarded up for several years
A COUNCILLOR urged residents to use Buckinghamshire’s pubs to stop them being turned into restaurants.
Councillor Jean Teesdale spoke after she was told landlords are ‘driving a coach and horses’ through the need to protect pubs by making them into restaurants.
Adrian Watts asked: “What steps is the council taking to ensure that this course of action is not used to close and convert every pub in the district, entirely ignoring the protection they were intended to have?”
Yet Cllr Teesdale, cabinet member for planning at Wycombe District Council, said national planning rules allow pubs to become restaurants – but not the other way round.
This ‘ties our hands’ she said but pledged: “We will lobby for those rules to be changed.”
To chuckles from the council chamber, she said: “The best advice I can give to you is let’s give business owners no reason to make such a change and to use their public houses.”
Pubs nationwide have been hit by a downturn in business.
Two prominent pubs on London Road, High Wycombe have closed in recent years, The Halfway House and Red Lion, with plans put forward to replace them with housing.
Click the link below to read Mr Watts’ full question.
Comments(11)
chris740
says...
5:50pm Sun 28 Feb 10
it would make life a little easyer.
they charge so high tax. but nothing in return.
once again council at the top of the list for ripping the people off in wycombe
hondo
says...
8:31pm Sun 28 Feb 10
So much cheaper to drink at home. Shame about social structure.
No wonder alcoholism is a problem.
Tax per unit!
Or even local tax per unit.
cheesepie
says...
8:55pm Sun 28 Feb 10
Slimster
says...
9:04pm Sun 28 Feb 10
cheesepie wrote:Possibly a good idea if you're being serious. It would make a change from more cookie-cutter flats.
now the half way house is empty can we please have it for a mosque we don't have 1 that end of town
deecee01
says...
11:04pm Sun 28 Feb 10
cheesepie wrote:lol !!
now the half way house is empty can we please have it for a mosque we don't have 1 that end of town
miccles
says...
9:25am Mon 1 Mar 10
cheesepie wrote:Tesco's have probably earmarked that for another bloody express shop.
now the half way house is empty can we please have it for a mosque we don't have 1 that end of town
if the council want to do something good, stop these shops popping up everywhere.
sparky49
says...
9:34am Mon 1 Mar 10
TheT0nemeister
says...
1:47pm Mon 1 Mar 10
miccles
says...
2:48pm Mon 1 Mar 10
TheT0nemeister wrote:Cheap rounds are in the Falcon, was in there saturday night, 1 Abbot, 1 John Smith, 1 becks, few pence short of a fiver.
I think it comes down to the shortage of surplus earnings and higher bills etc. Also the cost of buying say a round of 4 drinks in a pub is between £12-£15 and you could buy a whole case of beer and have a party for that.
If Wetherspoons can do it, why not the rest?
sparky49
says...
7:26pm Mon 1 Mar 10
Slimster says...
5:37pm Sun 28 Feb 10
I'd rather have an outdoor pool and a ski slope though...