Push to save the Boundary Arms
Pinkneys Green: Campaign to stop pub being turned into housing
A campaign is underway to save a community pub in Pinkneys Green from being turned into housing.
Plans have been submitted to demolish The Boundary Arms and replace it with two semidetached homes.
The watering hole, in Pinkneys Road, closed in 2021 but members of the community are now trying to drum up support to reopen the venue.
Regular Kenton Barnard, who started drinking at the pub in 2008, said: “We’ve lost so many pubs in Maidenhead and we don’t want to lose another one without at least giving it a chance post-COVID to get it on the go and get the community involved.
“There’s a lot of us that feel strongly about it and we should be giving an opportunity to at least get it back on and get it on its feet.”
Before its closure in 2021, The Boundary Arms had proved popular with darts and cribbage teams while also running monthly trips to Marlow’s Rebellion Brewery.
“The thought of losing it for good without at least trying to get it back open doesn’t sit well,” Kenton added.
Members of the Friends of the Boundary Arms campaign group met on Sunday at communityowned pub The Craufurd Arms to discuss their next steps.
An application to the council is now being prepared for The Boundary Arms to be designated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).
If approved, this would need to be taken into account when the council makes a decision over whether housing can be built on the site.
Mark Newcombe, pub protection officer for the Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, said: “Once these venues are gone, they never come back again.
“I’m keen to keep as many as we can going, even through these tough times.”
A spokesman for Bowen Evans Consultancy, who submitted the plans on behalf of the applicant, has been contacted for comment.
Anyone wishing to submit comments to the council about the redevelopment plans must do so by May 31.
Visit rbwm.gov.uk/ planning and search 23/01049/FULL to view the plans.