Campaign to Save Local Pubs

New Campaign Campaigns

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  LET'S CALL TIME ON THE GREAT BRITISH PUB SCANDAL.

  A Pubs Watchdog is urgently needed to govern the behaviour of large pub companies (which own around a third of UK pubs) and ensure publicans are treated fairly. A key role for the Pubs Watchdog would be to ensure rents and wholesale prices are reasonable. Last year the Government recognised that “there is some real hardship in the pubs sector, with many pubs going to the wall as publicans are struggling to survive on tiny margins. Some of this is due to pubcos [pub companies] exploiting and squeezing their publicans by unfair practices and a focus on short-term profits. Four Select Committee reviews since 2004 have highlighted these problems” (Vince Cable MP, January 2013). In 2013 the Government rightly concluded that “a change in the law is now needed to shift behaviour”. However, time is rapidly running out to introduce these important changes. The case for action: • In a 2013 survey, the majority (57%) of publicans renting pubs from the large pub companies reported earning less than £10,000 a year. • Typically these publicans have to buy all their beer from their pub company and are not allowed to buy on the open market. This can inflate the cost to publicans by around 50p a pint. • The large pub companies have disposed of thousands of pubs in the last four years alone and plan to sell many more every year. • In total 96% of people responding to a Government consultation survey declared their support for a Pubs Watchdog. Publicans with the large pub companies should be given the option to buy one real ale on the open market – known as a guest beer right. They should also be given the option to choose a market rent only contract that would allow a publican to buy all of their beer on the open market from any brewer they choose. Please sign this petition and tell the Government to stick to its clear promise by introducing a Parliamentary Bill in this year’s Queen’s Speech.

  45,202 of 50,000 Signatures

  Created by Colin Valentine
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  Save the Queens Head Public House - KIngston upon Thames

  Public houses are more than just a place to sup a glass of beer, they can be the hub of the community and far, far more. There is no better place to meet up with local friends for a good old gossip. Community groups host meetings and public events whilst enjoying a pint, not forgetting those personal special celebrations which can be catered for, and don't forget that pub food is so much better than it ever used to be! Our local public houses also support the sale of beer produced by our own local breweries/micro breweries (eg Twickenham Ales, Park Brewery) thus helping to create local employment and adding to the local economy. We have already lost at least 2 local pubs over the years, The Richmond Park and the Alexandra Tavern are no more. CAMRA suggests that as many as 29 pubs are closing every week. 600 have already been listed as assets of community value and therefore protected, hopefully we will be able to add the Queens Head to that list with your help. If you would like to help prevent the potential closure and redevelopment of this important community asset, please sign this petition. Thank you very much for your support.

  391 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Diane Watling
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  Save the Somerset Pub in Marston

  There has been a pub on the site of the Somerset since the 1800s. It closed its doors in 2014, and is now the last pub standing in New Marston. A group of local residents are now campaigning to save the pub. The iconic building is one of its kind in the area: a 1930s inter-war public house. Historic England have campaigned to list and protect suburban pubs, which are under threat and closing at a rate of 27 per week. Marston has already lost The Plasterers Arms, The Jack Russell, The Friar, The Cavalier, The Three Horseshoes, The Bricklayers Arms, and The White Hart, which have all been converted to other uses by property developers. We urgently need community spaces as well as housing, and pubs are an important and irreplaceable part of our heritage. If the Somerset is lost there will be no pubs in New Marston - an area of some 4000 residents. Marston is in real need of public spaces for eating, drinking and meeting. Many of us know and love the Somerset, and remember it as a thriving pub. We have come together to lobby local government to recognise the importance of preserving our last pub and to campaign to see it re-opened for community use.

  711 of 800 Signatures

  Created by Susannah Wilson
• save the crooked billet

  jobs, independent local, history,

  3 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Rahil Imam
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  Save the Masons Arms

  SAVE THE MASONS ARMS Did you know that the last of the original New Mills pubs in the historical and conservation area of the town is under threat of closure? Well it is and we don't want that to happen so we have started a petition to see this gets stopped. If you would like to help then please sign our petition. Remember, once it goes there will be no more pubs in old New Mills and not one between the Royal Oak and the Printer's in Thornsett. That's a fair walk after a couple.

  557 of 600 Signatures

  Created by Mark Cobley
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  Protect small cider producers

  CAMRA fully supports the production and availability of real ciders and perries. In many cases the proposed action would make small scale cider production uneconomic. This is wholly disproportionate given that a small producer selling up to 33 pints a day has no capacity to affect EU trade to any meaningful degree. The case for rejecting the request by the EU to tax small cider producers: - Someone producing less than 70hl (12,000 pints) will generally be making less than £10,000 a year in sales. This means the tax exemption only applies to very small businesses, such as hobbyists or farm-gate producers. If a duty were to be levied on these producers it would make their operations uneconomic and lead to wide-spread closure. - 80% of Britain’s 500+ cider makers are currently small producers. A tax will severely impact on consumer choice and will cause irreparable damage to one of the nation’s most historic industries. - An exemption from this duty is essential to supporting the growth of a vibrant but still small cider and perry market. - A tax charge of up to £2,700 would drive many small cider producers out of business costing jobs, harming the countryside and dramatically reducing consumer choice.

  26,932 of 30,000 Signatures

  Created by Katie McKelliget
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  Urgent please help to save The Railway Inn Fourstones

  This is our village pub, its been neglected by a succession of owners - I understand the community and others have offered to buy the pub, its a community asset that we all want to keep. There has been little done to make this into a viable going concern, but the current owner has applied to have it converted into a house. Was this the intent all along ? Does this sound familiar ? Run the pub down, then covert it into a house and sell it at a profit ?. We need your help to stop this - please log on to Northumberland County Council Planning Website and make your voice heard against Planning No: 17/01323/FUL

  225 of 300 Signatures

  Created by Steve Scrimshaw
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  Save Cooksons

  We are concerned that the pub may be being mismanaged and intentionally run down,marking it as an nonviable concern resulting in possible closure. We feel the Pub has the potential to bring a huge amount of value to the local area, beyond what it could contribute economically. It can provide community infrastructure that would otherwise not exist, bring together neighbours and members of the community that may not otherwise come into contact, and play a part in the heritage and culture of an area. Historically it has supported aspirations of local authorities, by helping to increase individual well being, bring vulnerable, isolated and disparate groups into closer contact, as well as contributing to the regeneration of jobs. Finally, locally six pubs and social clubs have closed, making the Cooksons the only pub left standing along a once vibrant area. If the Cooksons was also to go, then the loss would we feel be a further nail in the coffin for an already stressed and continually disparate community.

  11 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Stephen Maguire
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  The Windmill

  The Windmill Public House is a traditional meeting place and community focus for the village. It is registered as an Asset of Community Value [AVC] . It is within a conservation area and adjacent to Charlton House which is a historic listed building within the Green Belt. CAMRA North Hertfordshire Branch argue that the changes proposed by the current owner will preclude it from from ever returning to having the status of a much loved village pub.

  15 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Jeremy Ainsworth-Smith
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  Save O'Donoghues, Marlow

  O'Donoghues is a true community pub in the heart of Marlow. It's the only pub in the town that doesn't serve food, that shows a wide array of sports and appeals to a variety of (adult) ages. We think the proposed plans will remove the community aspect of the pub, and transform it into a gastropub like the others we have in the area. Currently, it is a quintessential British boozer that is a favourite, not just amongst locals, but also the friends we have brought here. Countless relationships have been made in this pub and all the regular patrons (of which there are many) are saddened and disappointed at the proposal to fundamentally change what makes our pub so special. We understand that the pub needs to make profit, but surely there is a way to still make a profit whilst keeping the character, clientele and true essence of our local pub. Please support us.

  334 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Emma Hazell