Campaigners mark Community Pub Day

Dewsbury’s Old Turk and Birstall’s Grey Hound are among 600 establishments throughout the country to be listed as Assets of Community Value (ACV).

It means greater planning protection and a bigger say for punters if building owners want to change either pub’s use to something else.

CAMRA chief executive Tim Page said: “Thanks to the efforts of the thousands of CAMRA members who lobbied their local MP, from April 6 when a pub is listed as an ACV in England it will receive full planning protection, ultimately giving communities a say in what happens if the owner wishes to demolish the pub or convert it to another use.

“This is a powerful step towards protecting our valued community pubs. All it takes is a local group or 21 locals to start the process of having a pub listed as an ACV, so let’s push the number of listed pubs from hundreds to thousands.”

The new law comes into force on April 6 alongside a beer tax cut and the Small Business Bill, which CAMRA said would give pub company licensees in England and Wales a fairer deal on beer prices and rent.

Mr Page said: “It has been an excellent year for CAMRA with three major campaign wins coming to fruition within a few short weeks. None of these would have been possible without our dedicated 170,000 members who work tirelessly to protect the rights of beer drinkers and pub-goers across the country.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to them for every letter written, petition signed or pub listed, which has played a huge role in CAMRA achieving real change. It is now up to all of us to continue this good work.”

The North Kirklees pubs are joined by two others in Kirklees – the Bay Horse in Holmfirth and the Sair in Huddersfield – on the assets list.

Click here for more information on how to get your local listed.