‘Save The Woolpack’: Campaigners fight to save a historic Dewsbury pub

Residents are rallying together to try and save The Woolpack Country Inn on Whitley Road in Dewsbury, after its sudden closure was announced on Facebook by the owners on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.

The owners claimed in the statement that they had to close due to rising bills and a lack of support from the local community. However, this came as a ‘shock’ to local residents who wanted to see the pub stay open.

Members of the ‘Save The Woolpack’ campaign group, which was set up after the shock announcement, have said that they do support the pub and that “the public house has been systematically underfunded, run down to make it look unviable.”

The group have also stated that they are ‘disappointed’ that the owners are planning to redevelop the premises for other purposes, after it was discovered that the owner had applied to develop the property into five housing units on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, three weeks before the closure was announced.

Stew Abel, community lead for the ‘Save The Woolpack’ campaign group, said: “We held a community meeting a few weeks ago, which had a really good attendance, with the vast majority of people supporting and wanting to see the continuation of a pub in the village.

“There seems to be a real desire, despite what the owners said on Facebook, to support this pub. However, there is a feeling in the village that the pub has been run down to support the planning application for a change of use.

“There is an application for change of use and we do understand that the pub needs to branch out into different business opportunities to keep going, but the community feel that a change of use for the entire property seems a little extreme.

“We want to help save the property, even if it was keeping a smaller area of the pub open or eventually, depending on how this planning stage goes, we potentially look at taking it on as a community pub, run by the community.

“If the change of use goes through to create entirely residential properties there would be no prospect for there to be a pub in the village ever again, it would be the end of an era.

“Yes there are challenges, but it would be nice to see an attempt to work around those challenges and keep something in place for the community.

“It would be very sad to see it go."

The campaign group has been set up in conjunction with CAMRA - who represent beer drinkers and pub-goers across the UK - to help save this historic pub from closing its doors permanently.

Paul Dixey of the Heavy Woollen CAMRA branch said: "The Woolpack is the only pub in the village with the nearest alternative being over a mile away, and it is clear that the local community would greatly miss this long-standing asset and focal point for the village.

“It is popular with locals and with those further afield who appreciate the special appeal of a country pub, whether just for a drink or for a meal.

“The difficulties currently facing The Woolpack have mostly resulted from issues facing the nation as a whole - firstly the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis.

“There is no reason to suppose that the pub will not be able to flourish once again when pressures ease, and it is therefore vital that the building itself is protected from change of use because once a pub closes permanently, it's generally lost forever.

"There are many examples of country pubs in the wider area doing very well from providing good food in pleasant surroundings, and the Woolpack could have a bright future if able to weather the current national storm.

“At this northern end of Kirklees, we don’t have very many country pubs and it would be a great shame to lose this one."

Members of ‘Save The Woolpack’ have also praised the support given by Dewsbury MP Mark Eastwood, who is actively involved in helping to save the pub.

Mr Eastwood said: “I have been approached by the Save the Woolpack Action Group and look forward to meeting with them to hear their plans for saving the Woolpack Country Inn.”

Following the actions taken by the ‘Save The Woolpack’ campaign group, the owner of the public house will now have to seek council permission before changing the building’s use or redeveloping it, with the group arguing that it should be protected because of its “historic or architectural value and because it makes a positive contribution to our community”.

Because of this, Kirklees Council have now extended the deadline for comment to Tuesday, January 17.

To submit a comment, visit https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/planning-applications/search-for-planning-applications/detail.aspx?id=2022/93731