The Ram pub at Brundall which Tesco wants to turn into an Express store. Picture: Denise Bradley
Round one to Brundall campaigners in bid to stop Tesco store replacing pub
Tom Bristow
Saturday, February 23, 2013
11:39 AM
Campaigners are celebrating an early victory in their battle to stop a Tesco store opening in a Broads village.
Meeting of the group opposed to Tesco turning the Ram pub into an Express store in Brundall.
Photo: Bill SmithThe supermarket chain hoped to take over the Ram pub in Brundall by using a planning application which was granted in 1993 for an extension to the building.
Enterprise Inns who own the site applied to Broadland District Council revive the old planning application, but on Tuesday it was refused.
Broadland Council leader Andrew Proctor who has campaigned against the Ram’s closure welcomed the decision.
“If the application had been allowed they could have gone in and built the extension,” he said. “It means that now they would have to put in a full application. It is the first hurdle.”
Brundall Parish Council has also applied to the council to list the pub as a community asset which would give them priority to lease or buy it if it was put up for sale by Enterprise Inns.
It would mean Tesco’s plans to take over the site could be delayed and even scuppered.
If approved on March 5, it would be the first time the law has been used in Broadland, since the community asset scheme started in September 2012.
John Wake from campaign group Stand Up For Brundall which opposed the application from Tesco said: “We are taking each stage as it comes and still planning ahead.
“It is looking more promising. It’s not just about Tesco. It is about losing the pub.”
In a letter to Tesco’s planning agents, the council’s head of planning Phil Courtier outlined their reasons for the refusal.
He said the applicant had “failed to provide satisfactory information” that the single storey extension would be lawful.
Mr Courtier added that there was also a lack of information to show that the car park would be built along the lines of the old planning application.
A spokesman for Tesco said: “We are naturally disappointed that this decision has been made. We will now review our options.”
Enterprise and Tesco will now decide whether to appeal the decision or to put in a new planning application.
A spokeswoman for the pub chain said: “We are currently reviewing all our options for the Ram Inn but no decision has been made at this stage.”
In January around 300 people attended a meeting in Brundall Village Hall to show their support for the campaign to stop the loss of the pub and hundreds of people have signed a petition against Tesco’s plans.
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23 comments
To all the people using the daft use it or lose it phrase: you don't understand how pubcos work! They have NO interest in the pub or the area, they just wring the building and the tenant landlord dry through over-priced beer and high rents, investing nothing in the building, then when they can't find another tenant, they sell it off to a developer or a supermarket, aided and abetted by all of you, and the pub is lost forever - not just the 'unviable' one you don't like, but the cracking one which could have been there in a few years if it was sold to a proper pub person.
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Ian S
Thursday, February 28, 2013
D. Simpson; bores don`t wreck lives, they stifle them. A pint! Of beer!! Heinous!!! Eat more chips - simple.
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Mad Brewer
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Too small to be a Wetherspoon`s, but there`s still Costa Coffee. The `Yare` might be more attractive to Wetherspoon`s, though there is enough room on that site for a medium-sized incinerator.....
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Mad Brewer
Sunday, February 24, 2013
NEN - having read the comments here, do you agree it's time you started reflecting all sides of such stories, not just the loud-mouthed NIMBYs? Try getting out and asking the ordinary families before you rush to print such misinformed propaganda.
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Only Me
Sunday, February 24, 2013
I have seen some hypocracy from tory councilors in my time but this takes the biscuit...this must be the ultimate in 'NYMBYISM' ta boot...Proctor, one of 2 members of Broadland district council who is almost single handedly responsible for proposing the biggest 'land-loss' to developers since the romans invaded Britain..under the 'guise' of growth and jobs...it's solely about new homes bonusses and comunity infrastructure levies whioch will bring Broadland and Norfolk county council 'back from the brink' of financial ruin ( he hopes ) now he has the sheer afrontary to defend a pub in his locallity?....what a hyprocit of the highes order.
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kingsize
Sunday, February 24, 2013
That pub should be a gold mine, and in the right hands it would be. I used to live in Poringland, and there was a dreadful old pub there called the Royal Oak. I forget who owned it, but few used it and I suspect even fewer would have shed tears if it had closed. However, in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, and willing to invest it is now a cracking pub. The Ram could be the same, and I really wish the village every success in having it classified as a community asset.
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Tom Jeffries
Sunday, February 24, 2013
D.Simpson...yes see what you mean. Good example to set to all our kids and grandkids, one guy in the picture is holding a pint of beer. Is that responsible...I think not.
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MickB1
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Further to my earlier comments............ these people are trying to promote Alcohol, Pubs sell mostly alcohol, and can cause Alcoholism, anti-social behaviour and crimes. Whatever happened to drink awareness? Alcohol can wreck lives.
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D.Simpson
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Further to my earlier comments............ these people are trying to promote Alcohol, Pubs sell mostly alcohol, and can cause Alcoholism, anti-social behaviour and crimes. Whatever happened to drink awareness? Alcohol can wreck lives.
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D.Simpson
Sunday, February 24, 2013
All villages’ have Dinosaurs that don’t want to move on and want to live in the past. Oh dear change we can’t have this lets start up an Anti campaign group. It’s this sort of attitude that holds back our country, get a grip you lot, move on. It’s time to live in the real world. When....and I mean WHEN Tesco open’s this shop they ought to print the picture of the Anti Tesco group pin it on the door and ban them from the shop.....See who will be the first one to shop there and be the Hypocrite.
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MickB1
Sunday, February 24, 2013
The Big Boys always win in the end. No brainer....Tesco or the OAP’s in the picture. I'm suprised a Councillor is behind this, I thought they were supposed to help and bulid their community.....obviously not this one...SHAME ON YOU ALL.
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JD Hunt
Sunday, February 24, 2013
If the pub closed then it closed for a good reason which is probably not making money, therefore what is wrong with another business trying to make a go of it. I guess in the end Tesco will win but with a cost and that cost will be passed onto us the customer. And people wonder why this country is in a mess..! We should be helping businesses for the future not trying to destroy them. In my village I would be glad of this Tesco store because where I live we have nothing, No shop, No post office, No garage, No chip shop and the nearest is 8 miles away. You people need to stop this self destruction of Brundal before you to have nothing...!
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D.Simpson
Sunday, February 24, 2013
If the 300 people attending the first meeting were regulars of the pub this wouldn't be happening. The pub is an ugly eyesore anyway. I'm sure the anti-Tesco brigade living the postwick end of Brundall will walk past Tesco in order to walk another 10 minutes to Budgens. Not.
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Lesa
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Don't know why they're trying to 'save the pub', it's an eyesore for a start and it looks pretty empty most of the time. I live in Brundall and can tell you the pub isn't the heart of the village, most signing the petition never use it, it's just an anti Tesco's thing, if you prefer a run down 60's estate looking house that hasn't seen a coat of paint in years then I guess that's your choice. Obviously Budgens is forcing this issue with a lot of promotion in store to save the pub, of course they're concerned about the pub! Budgens is very expensive and unprofessional and would be wiped out overnight, can't see the problem myself. For all the nimby's in Brundall The Ram is not the pub near the level crossing.
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Rob_H
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Only Me - I am probably on as tight a budget as you probably are but it does not cost much to appreciate the fresh, quality food that Waitrose has to offer + they do have many price matched items anyhow .
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spark
Saturday, February 23, 2013
and who voted Tesco the worst, well-off snobs like Spark, not the millions of ordinary people who can not afford to use Waitrose - and that does include most people in Sheringham! Tesco is doing what it is in business to do - just a shame they have no similar priced competition from the likes of ASDA and Morrisons.
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Only Me
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Real shame whats going to happen in Sheringham, esp when they could have had a Waitrose which would have suited that town. Tesco voted worst supermarket in the country.
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spark
Saturday, February 23, 2013
If the pub is there..use it or lose it. Better it is used than lost. But what are the alternatives when a pub shuts ?? Tesco's only need to see a chink in the light then the foot is in the door. See what happened in Sheringham. Tesco's were overly persistent there for years and years. Now if it was Cost Cutters or Co-Op..what would the response be I wonder ?
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Responsible parent
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Not chavvy enough for them?
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Mr Cameron Isaliar
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Another case of a few well-off and stuck up campaigners going against the wishes of the majority of ordinary people who do want the choice. If the people don't want it, they won't use it, will they? The same reason the pub is closing!!
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Only Me
Saturday, February 23, 2013
What is it with Tesco's every time there is a empty building they want to move in we have about 20 in Norwich before long there will be a Tesco on every street in the uk lol
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scorch382
Saturday, February 23, 2013
If the people of Brundall had used the pub in the first place then it would not have closed and Tesco would not be seeking permission to take it over, but I expect they trundled off to the Supermarket and bought their beer and wine and are sitting in their lounges instead. makes me laugh all these anti campaigners try their hardest to stop these supermarkets taking over but when these supermarkets eventually win these anti's are the first people to step foot in the supermarket.. BAN THEM !!
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Footyboy16
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Well done to the people of Brundall in trying to stop Tesco's opening in the Ram pub. I hope youn succeed in your quest
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Derek McDonald
Saturday, February 23, 2013