Calling time on pub closures

The move follows a planning meeting on Tuesday in which councillors agreed a scheme to turn the Olive Tree pub in Perrers Road, near Ravenscourt Park Tube in Hammersmith, into two maisonettes and three flats.

A similar bid in August to split the Cottage pub in Colehill Lane, Fulham, into two maisonettes and four flats was also passed at the recommendation of planning officers.

At a meeting in Fulham Town Hall yesterday (Wednesday), Labour member Wesley Harcourt urged Hammersmith and Fulham Council to take action to prevent more pubs going the same way.

He said: "It's becoming increasingly difficult to find the sort of relaxing atmosphere that we need to wind down after a meeting like this.

"I'm not talking about town centre pubs and city centre pubs, I'm talking about traditional backstreet sort of pubs which, according to the British Beer and Pub Association, are closing at a rate of about 40 a week."

Last year 167 London pubs closed down, according to Cllr Harcourt, who said they perform a vital service and meeting place for many people with few other places to turn.

Recalling customers who used to use his own local pub, the Crown and Sceptre in West Kensington, he said: "Some of them were vulnerable, some of them were lonely, some of them needed support, and the pub gave them that. When people became ill they were looked after by people from that pub, and when they died it was people from that pub who attended their funeral."

Sarah Gore, the Conservative councillor for North End, said some developers were acquiring pubs with the intention of 'running them down' before claiming that the business is no longer viable, and conversion into flats is the only option.

She said: "We do need to consider the needs of these residents. For many people the idea of a good night does not necessarily end with the Pitcher and Piano."

A motion was passed unanimously resolving to develop planning guidance to preserve pubs in the borough which are 'a much-loved aspect of our heritage'.