Pub closure collect: would be ‘another nail’ in heritage’
GROUP SLAMS HOME PLAN FOR BREWERS’ FANS LOCAL:
REAL ale campaigners say shutting a well-known Burton pub and turning it into a house would be “another nail in Burton’s heritage as the brewing capital”.
Beer fans from the group Camra have vowed to fight the plan and have announced they will be objecting to an application to convert the Derby Inn pub, in Derby Road, into a house.
It comes after the former landlord and marketing agents for the company that owns the venue and is behind the plan said it was no longer “viable” as a pub.
Camra’s national chairman Nik Antona has called the news disappointing and regulars have told of their sadness.
He said: “The Derby Inn is the only one we know of that isn’t reopening after Covid so that is good where we only lose one but then Burton is a beer town. It has a good reputation and its pubs are well thought of so it is disappointing that we might lose it but hopefully the objection will be successful.
“If not, it is just another nail in Burton’s heritage as the brewing capital.”
The pub was popular with football fans due to its proximity to Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium on match days before the coronavirus pandemic meant fans could not attend games.
Burton Albion fan Yvonne Bower, who has been a regular at the Derby Inn for 10 years, said of the news it may never reopen: “It is absolutely awful. It breaks your heart.
“It is a huge social thing for us. We meet up with people pre-match and after the match. The atmosphere in there is always so good. You don’t get any trouble. You also get away fans in there so we chat to people from all over the country.
“I think it could have been viable but I think it is a done deal.”
Admiral Taverns, which owned the pub, declared the pub “unviable” and the venue was put up for sale. Now applicant A Mahmood has applied to East Staffordshire Borough Council to turn it into a home.
Mr Antona added: “We will highlighting some of the things such as disputing the pub’s viability claim and that it should be offered as a viable pub before selling it on.
“We have until April 24 to object and I know a number of other Camra members who will be objecting as it is a valued, community pub and probably one of our last community pubs.”
He claimed: “What they said about the pub not being viable doesn’t hold water because it has been shut for most of the 12 months and even when it was open during the summer there was no football traffic.
“It is a viable pub and has been proven to be viable in the past and given the chance it could be really successful.”
He suggested the pub could be sold as a free of tie pub and would then be able to sell whatever drinks the landlords wished.
He added: “The Royal Oak in the Market Place is a perfect example as it was in a similar position. It got a new brewer and now it is thriving.”
The award-winning Derby Inn has been in the Camra Good Beer Guide
for the last four years and came runner-up twice in the Burton and South Derbyshire Camra Pub of the Year competition.
Former landlord Lee Betts has also been part of the Beer Festival Committee for a number of years, with the pub hosting the committee meetings.
The Derby Inn was also shortlisted for the postponed National Bass Day’s Best Bass in Burton competition.
Mr Betts wrote a supporting letter which was submitted alongside the planning application saying during his six-year at the reins, the business “did not make any money. In fact it only just broke even for the first five years.” He added that during Covid last year all the pub did was lose money.
His claims were also backed up by a viability report compiled by estate agents Edward Jones. The report revealed that Admiral Taverns marketed the property widely over a 12-month period, and that while they received offers from residential developers there were no offers from pub operators.
The report added there has been a steady closure of local pubs nationally mainly due to the non-viability of the use and changing drinking habits of the public and more recently due to Covid-19 lockdown.
If the planning application is successful the pub would be extended as part of the plan with a series of extensions and the installation of dormer windows to front and rear to form additional accommodation.
There would also be an extension to a garage.
A decision on the planning application is due to be made in the next few months.