ALEX SCAPENS
AFORMER pub that closed despite a campaign to save it will have new homes built in its place.
The Jack and Jill, on Brinnington Road, was the last pub left in Brinnington when it closed around 12 months ago.
And this week plans to replace the now demolished building with 10 houses were approved by members of Stockport Council’s central area committee.
The planning application, from Wiggett Construction, is for seven four-bed houses and three two-bed houses.
Speaking after the meeting Councillor Sheila Bailey said: “It is a good use for a building that would otherwise remain derelict.”
When news was announced that the pub was to shut, uproar was caused with people saying that ‘the heart had been ripped out’ of Brinnington.
It was an area that had once been well-served for pubs but the Farmer’s Arms, Cheshire Cat and Horsfield Arms have also all closed over the last decade.
Robinson’s, who owned the Jack and Jill, took the decision to close it as turnover had fallen and it had become un-viable.
The company said efforts had been made to try and keep it running but ultimately bosses had ‘reluctantly’ chosen to shut it.
A Facebook campaign was launched calling for the pub to reopen and it was offered on the open market but there were no takers.
Among 100s of members of the group was Katy Renshaw, who said: “The community of Brinnington is loosing everything that makes us a community.
“We will soon have no community left for when our children grow up.
“The Jack and Jill was the heart of the community for almost everyone that lives here and has lived here in the past.
“We as a community want to save our pub.”
Concerns were raised at the meeting over the number of new homes in the area - there are around 300 being built as part of the Brinnington Masterplan - leaving services such as schools struggling to cope.
But the application, which had been reduced from 13 houses, was seen as contributing to the regeneration of the area.
The nearest things left to pubs in Brinnington are now the Labour Club and the Salisbury Club.