Wharfedale Observer

Campaigners celebrate victory in fight to prevent demolition of Otley pub

From the archive, first published Thursday 13th Mar 2008.

CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating a real community victory' after a scheme to demolish an Otley pub so that houses could be built on the site was thrown out.

Leeds City Council planners have rejected a Conservation Area application to knock down the Summercross pub, on East Busk Lane, which was suddenly closed last October.

The decision means Chartford Homes' linked proposal to build 14 terraced houses on the site will also fail, to the delight of pressure group Save Our Summercross (SOS) and Otley Town Council, who opposed the plan.

Otley's MP and SOS member Greg Mulholland said: "This is great news and a real victory for the community.

"SOS has done a great job leading the campaign, which has been supported by political represent-atives at all levels and community groups.

"I hope Chartford Homes will now accept that a development is not wanted here. They should have the good grace to walk away and allow someone to buy the Summercross and re-open it as a pub.

"The good of the community must come before making money for developers and I hope that before too long the Summercross will be serving its community again, the way it did for so many years."

SOS Chairman Shirley Lewis said: "We've won a battle, not the war, but this just shows what a group of people can do if they really feel strongly about something.

"Although they've refused demolition, and so this plan, it's the next move that's going to be interesting.

"I suspect Chartford Homes will change its plans to include the Summercross and perhaps convert it."

Town and ward Councillor Graham Kirkland (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) also hailed the decision, while urging people not to get too carried away.

He said: "If they can't knock the pub down they can't proceed, end of story, so it is good news, although they could always try and convert it, of course, or appeal.

"I'm pleased and a lot of local residents will be happy that they are not going to smash their way through.

"I'm sure the developers will come back again because it will have cost them a lot of money to buy the site and they're not in the business of running pubs, so they'll have to either sell it to someone who does or put a different planning application in.

"But for now it's Residents 1, Chartford Homes 0'. It's a bit like David against Goliath, or Barnsley against Chelsea! And it shows that if enough people write in and are sensible you can win.

"On the other hand, it's only round one'."

Opponents of the housing scheme point to the fact that the pub was enjoying a new lease of life when it was closed, with former landlord and landlady and winning several awards.

Some residents, however, have voiced support for the housing scheme and warned that the alternative could be for the town to be left with a boarded-up eyesore'.

Chartford Homes was contacted by the Wharfedale & Airedale Observer but no-one was available to comment before the time of going to press.