Battle to save listed pub
CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to block plans to change a pub into a house.
Hove-based developer Evenden Estates wants to convert the Rose Hill Tavern pub in Brighton into a ground floor and basement three-bedroom property.
An existing first floor flat above the Rose Hill Terrace pub will remain.
The pub closed in May when it was sold by Enterprise Inns, which branded the business unviable.
But punters fighting the plans say the pub, which first opened in 1870, was a valuable meeting point which has a rich heritage, including a distinctive United Brewery green tiled frontage.
The Rose Hill Tavern Action group successfully listed the pub as an asset of community value (ACV), the first of its kind in Brighton and Hove, in the hope it will prevent developers from going ahead with the plans.
The group claims various proposals it made to the owners, which included renting, buying the bar or the pub outright, were knocked back.
But the council’s executive director for finance and resources said this should not deter the owners from applying for planning permission as it could “contribute to the social wellbeing of the local community where there is shortage of housing”, according to documents submitted by the developers.
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) branded the pub as of historical importance and the group said 570 people have also signed an online petition to protect it.
Action group chairman Richard James said: “We are losing pubs at an alarming rate, and although we have a housing shortage, we will soon have a lack of small community owned and run public houses.
“There are a number of pubs in the area, but some do not have the history this venue does. It is an important part of the town.”
A decision is expected to be made in November.
To sign the petition visit change.org/en-GB/organisations/save_the_rose_hill_tavern_brighton or email rosehilltavern@brightonandhovecity.co.uk for more information.