Campaigners face battle to save Victorian pub and turn it into community-owned venue

Campaigners who want to save a Victorian pub and turn it into a community-owned venue face another battle to keep their dream alive.

The Jubilee, formerly owned by Enterprise Inns, was closed in 2016 and sold to Wakefield-based developer Tri-Core, who want to turn some of the building into flats.

But The Friends of Jubilee York want to buy the pub and revive its fortunes, with a range of quality beers, wines and affordable food – plus space for the community.

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The Friends said: “Our community has lost many services and spaces and we want to bring the whole of this big, beautiful building to life, perhaps with a postal service, a home for the local food bank, rooms for co-working, start-ups, or artists to hire, a community ‘library of things’, a youth club, a bicycle repair shop, or even brewing our own beer on site.”

The Jubilee pub in YorkThe Jubilee pub in York
The Jubilee pub in York

The pub, in Balfour Street, originally opened in 1897 and was named for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee.

It has been designated an ‘asset of community value’ as part of the campaign to save it.

Councillors rejected Tri-Core’s latest plan to turn the empty building into three flats – keeping the ground floor for the pub – in April this year.

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Now, Tri-Core has appealed to the government’s Planning Inspectorate in the hope of overturning that judgement.

A planning inspector previously threw out one of their appeals, but Tri-Core has made changes and insists the pub would remain viable with the flats in place.

Their latest proposal would see a function room and the beer garden maintained.

Tri-Core’s appeal documents state: “It has been demonstrated the revised proposal would ensure the retention of The Jubilee public house including its function room and beer garden.

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“The Jubilee public house could therefore continue to meet the day-to-day needs of the community.”

Ward councillor Kalum Taylor, who has been supporting locals’ efforts to save the pub, said: “The appeal by the property developer owners of The Jubilee, who knew what they were buying all along, should be thrown out and this special building retained in its use to serve the people it was built for.

“The Jubilee still has great potential to serve the Leeman Road community. There is a credible residents’ group working on a bid for this, as well as wider interest too.

“To see it do this again would bring a huge and much-needed lift to the Leeman Road community, which is only going to grow in number over the coming years.”

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Next steps for the campaign include applying for the government’s Community Ownership Fund – a match funding scheme for at-risk assets – when it reopens next year, as well as the possibility of launching a community share offer.

A government inspector will decide on Tri-Core’s appeal early next year.

Examples of other pubs which have faced closure before being taken on and run independently include The Phoenix in the city centre and The Volunteer Arms in Holgate.

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