Regulars at a town centre pub have blasted red tape preventing them from having their say on the future of their local – ahead of a crunch hearing tomorrow, Friday.
The Chronicle has been inundated with emails, letters and phone calls from angry residents wanting to save the Rock and Fountain pub on Castle Foregate from closure. We revealed last week that more than 120 people who wrote letters in support of the pub as part of a consultation period were told their views would not be included as they did not live within 100 metres of it.
An application by West Mercia Police for a review into the venue’s premises licence will be heard at Shirehall tomorrow which, if successful, could see the terms of the licence changed or even see the licence revoked.
The pub was raided by police in May as part of a town-wide crackdown on the supply of drugs and, according to a report for tomorrow’s meeting, the police have details of 16 disorder incidents between December 2006 and May 2009 as well as evidence of drug-related activities. But residents from across the town have called for the pub to be spared. Carol James, of Monkmoor, said she had recently held a 60th birthday party there and said it would be a ‘sad loss’.
Customer Kelly Jones said the street was full of takeaways and businesses and hardly any houses, meaning it would be unlikely many people would be able to register their views. Eddie Downey of Bayston Hill said; “There are enough pubs closing down as it is without things like this happening. I think the laws in place infringe people’s human rights.”
The hearing will be held in the Shrewsbury Room at Shirehall and will start at 1.30pm.