ACV update

In mid June, the Bath Hotel and the Sheffield Tap both achieved Asset of Community Value (ACV) status. We are very pleased to see that the only two Sheffield pubs which appear on the CAMRA National Inventory of Pub Interiors now have this added protection – congratulations to all concerned. The Manager of the Bath only discovered their achievement when, on 14th.June, she was presented with our Pub of the Month Award, the decision having been announced a few hours earlier. Bath Hotel external Bath Hotel window However, Sheffield City Council are still not working to their statutory obligations. Decisions on these applications were due on 30th.May, not over two weeks later. A couple of weeks earlier, another Sheffield & District nomination, the Castle Inn (Bradway), also became an ACV. This application was originally submitted on 16th.June 2015. This delay, of almost a year, is a record – no other council has had an application for so long and not made a decision. The 2011 Localism Act states that Council have 8 weeks to determine ACV applications. However, we are pleased to note that the formal decision record for the Castle (the Cabinet Member for Community Services and Libraries) states; ‘On the evidence provided the Property is popular with the people of Bradway and neighbouring communities, but also attracts a wider community ….. It is reasonable to consider local …….. to encompass not only the local ……. community of Bradway but also a large area that could conceivably encompass all of Sheffield itself. ‘ This emphasises a point that we have made in other applications that the ‘local community’ for a public house can encompass a considerable area. Sheffield Tap Brewery Sheffield Tap Pint This point is further emphasised in their report on the Sheffield Tap: ‘the Property is not only popular with rail travellers and neighbouring communities, but also attracts a wider community who visit the pub as part of “beer tourism”. The use by the neighbouring groups and to an extent rail travellers collectively identifies a “local community”. Therefore, it is a venue that attracts not only the local, in the normal sense of the word, community immediately in the railway station’s vicinity but also a national and arguably an international clientele.’ Following nomination by a local community group, The Plough (Crosspool) is registered as an ACV until 29th.June 2020. Recently Enterprise Inns closed the pub and are now believed to be leasing the building to Sainsburys. ACV status means that the Plough cannot be demolished or converted without planning permission, and also that local residents are given six months to buy the property if it is put on the market. A planning application for change of use has not yet been submitted. The Sandygate Road pub is opposite Hallam FC, the world’s oldest football ground. It is believed a pub has been on the site for 400 years. In April, both the Three Tuns and the Cremorne gained ACV status. Sheffield and District CAMRA will continue to make further ACV applications to Sheffield City Council. We are expecting their next decision on one of our applications in early August. Dave Pickersgill Pub Heritage Officer, Sheffield and District CAMRA

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