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Call for action over number of pub closures
 | | Tony and Rita Edwards outside the King Of Denmark |
CAMPAIGNERS are calling on Islington Council to do more to save "community" pubs - as traditional boozers continue to close down across the borough.
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) says more needs to be done to stop Islington pubs dying out, claiming that a third of pubs in N1 alone closed between 1996 and 2005.
 | | Islington Council leader Terry Stacy with Donna Smith, part-time barmaid at Compton Arms |
The council is currently lobbying the Government for new powers to improve the "economic, social and environmental wellbeing" of the borough under the new Sustainable Communities Act.
The proposed measures - which include toughening up the council's licensing powers and promoting local shops - were voted on by a special panel of community groups and councillors.
But moves to help protect community pubs were rejected as being too impractical or "not a sufficient priority".
John Cryne, chairman of CAMRA North London, said: "It's one of the most disappointing pieces of news I've heard in a long time. CAMRA was one of the foremost supporters of the act. The idea is that local people through their councils can lobby central government to say 'these laws are hurting out community'.
"Trying to save community pubs was one of the central platforms of the act, along with saving post offices and local shops. To hear Islington Council has decided it's not important or too difficult is pathetic."
According to CAMRA, threats to local pubs include the cost of business rates, cheap deals on alcohol in off licences and supermarkets and a lack of protection under planning laws to stop developers turning them into luxury flats.
Community campaigner Ian Shacklock, 49, a CAMRA member, of Monsell Road, Highbury, said: "It's a real missed opportunity. We've lost our soul. There is a definite distinction to be made between community pubs and any old bar and you're getting fewer of them.
"We need to make it much more difficult for people to convert pubs into flats. Once it's sold it's completely irreversible."
Pub supporter Wally Burgess, Islington Labour councillor for Hillrise ward, said: "In the age we're in now, breweries are more interested in property than beer. You find a lot of pubs on the market as premises where there's often clauses that it can only be turned into flats.
"It doesn't worry them much because they're now selling alcohol through large chains and supermarkets like its going out of fashion. The only thing that's suffering is the local pubs and the community. It's very sad."
Chris Bailey, of community campaign group the Better Archway Forum, who sat on the Islington Sustainable Community Act panel, said: "People were prioritising things as to whether they were likely to be successful or not. It's not quite so easy to define a community pub as it is a community bakery or fishmonger. These days I don't think the pub is the centre of every community. In some areas it might be the local Turkish restaurant, for instance."
But while new designer bars and restaurants continue to open in thriving Upper Street, landlady Eileen Shelock says times are tough at the nearby Compton Arms, a traditional pub in Compton Avenue, off Highbury Corner.
Ms Shelock, who has managed the pub for the last eight years, said: "It's dire. A lot of places have closed down. The council wants to look at business rates. You've got to bring the cost of running pubs down.
"There's not as much footfall as there was but it's got nothing to do with the bars on Upper Street - that's a totally different clientele. It's just got quieter. We used to be packed.
She added: "At the Compton Arms we've got no pool table or games machines or music. Regulars come in for a chat and we know what all their drinks are. It's definitely 'where everybody knows your name!'"
ESTIMATED PUB CLOSURES IN ISLINGTON SINCE 1996 (ACCORDING TO CAMRA)
N1 - 59 pubs out of 187
N4 - 8 pubs out of 32
N5 - 0 out of 8
N7 - 28 out of 61
N19 - 9 out of 32
Landlords homeless
TONY and Rita Edwards have run and lived above the King of Denmark pub, in Cloudesley Road, Islington, since 1982.
It was recently sold off from under their feet by the Charles Wells brewery and will shut on September 24.
Planning permission was granted to a developer by Islington Council in June to turn it into five flats.
Mr Edwards, 69, said: "We had no choice at all. The first we knew about it was when they put the 'sold' sign outside the pub. It was a disgusting way to do it.
"Our rent is £2,500 a month but they probably got £1.5million, maybe £2million for the pub. It makes economic sense for them but it's come at a bad time. We've got nowhere to live, we've been given a few extra housing points by the council but we don't know where we're going. It's happening all over Islington - 52 pubs a week are closing across the country.
"We're not really kitted out to be a gastropub. Charles Wells said they wanted to keep it a traditional pub and you're governed by the brewery. People are just not coming out now. We've not got enough regulars any more. They only come out one or two nights a week whereas it used to be four or five times a week.
"It's not just the recession - it's been the last five years. We're a real community pub - we have a hell of a lot of people saying 'can you do my dad's funeral or birthday party'.
"We cater more for older people. We have - or had - three ladies' darts teams and a men's darts team. It's brilliant here Saturday nights.
"I can't see anything the council can do to stop it - it's market forces. I lost a lot of trade on the smoking ban.
"Plus we've had a different type of people moving into the area. We have a little bit of music and the neighbours start complaining. They move in next to a pub and expect peace and quiet. We're planning a big closing down party in September. I've had a good life out of it."
Local pubs are worth fighting for, says leader
THE leader of Islington Council insists local pubs "are worth fighting for" - but says the number of bars and restaurants in the borough has reached breaking point.
Councillor Terry Stacy, who was born and raised in a pub on the Isle of Dogs in London's East End, said: "Traditional pubs are worth fighting for because they make a contribution. What happens in Upper Street does [also] make a contribution to Islington being a lively, exciting place but I think residents are getting to a position where they think enough is enough. How many more restaurants and bars do we really need?
"Over the coming year we will be having a long hard look at our licensing policy and the effect licensing is having on some communities, Clerkenwell especially."
Councillor Stacy insists Islington Council wants to help traditional pubs - despite calls for action from CAMRA being ignored in its response to the Sustainable Communities Act.
"You won't find a bigger defender of the local pub than myself," said Councillor Stacy. "We need to link it to local shops and services. CAMRA wrote to me very recently and I've agreed to meet them to talk about what we can do around promoting pubs and the use of good traditional pubs. We're going to have that debate."
Councillor Stacy says he was "spurred on" by the actions of four friends who recently bought The Marquess Tavern, in Canonbury Street, Islington, to reclaim it for local punters. He said: "I can't think of a better example of a pub that is used by those two different sorts of Islington.
"Neighbourhoods change. People's drinking habits change. Communities move out, new communities move in and no longer use them. But local authorities should think very carefully when planning applications come in for changing pubs to other uses. I still think this is an area of concern for residents.
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