Real ale enthusiasts pump up the protest over pub closure

A developer has applied to East Riding Council to convert the Oddfellows Arms, on Eastgate, Beverley, which dates back to 1840.

Alan Canvess, who sits on the Campaign for Real Ale’s national planning advisory group, said he would object, as is the Hull and East Yorkshire branch of Camra.

Not far away on Flemingate, the Mariners Arms has been turned into a vet’s surgery. Meanwhile the Buck Inn, on Beckside, has been converted into three homes and a bungalow.

The developer’s agent argues that turning the pub into homes secures the future of an “important building” in what is a conservation area and there are other pubs nearby.

But Mr Canvess said there was a “steady drip” of conversions. Mr Canvess said: “As you go out of town towards Beckside pubs seem to be closing.

“Residents are going into the town centre rather than supporting their locals.

“When you think back to how many there were five to 10 years ago you realise how many have gone.

“It is a domino effect. When there’s more than one pub, the local planning authority will say ‘Well there’s another pub’

“But what we would argue is that one is food-led, another wet-led, another where elderly people can meet.

“The argument tends to be that pubs are no longer viable. Our argument is that in the right hands they are.

“It is just a shame, they are historic buildings within our towns and villages. It is just removing part of our history in a sweep.”

Stewart Campbell, acting preservation officer for the local branch, which covers Beverley, said the pub had kept opening and closing every few months, but it was open before Christmas. He said: “All pubs are important; they are all community hubs.

“There is no reason why they can’t be converting other disused buildings. They will say it is not a viable business, but if nobody knows whether you are open or not, you are not going to build up a viable business.”

Agents for the developer, Hickling Gray Associates, argue that Beverley is a key location for housing and the conversion would involve only minimal external alterations. Their submission to planners states: “The development involves the re-use of previously developed land in a highly sustainable location. It will involve the re-use and long term retention of an important building in the conservation area.”

Chris Kendall, a partner for HGA, said: “I think it is a sign of the times that pubs in towns and villages are not used to the extent to which they used to be and are finding it increasingly difficult to make a living.

“It is a reality that as one pub closes it increases the chances of another surviving.”

The pub, which took its name from the town’s Oddfellows lodges, is believed to date back to 1840 when it first appeared in trade directories.

The 1881 Census recorded a 31-year-old “beerhouse keeper” Charles Kirkham residing there with his wife and two boarders.

Three years ago villagers lost their fight to save the Rose and Crown pub at Middleton on the Wolds which was turned into five apartments by a local brewer.

The Bay Horse in Driffield applied successfully to become offices and last year the Railway Inn at Patrington, a children’s nursery.

The council is currently dealing with an application to turn the George and Dragon, Holmpton, into a “community hub”.