THE fate of the former Corner House pub is a strange story. For well over a century it traded as a pub on North Walls, best known as the Foresters Arms. Latterly it was the Corner House, more of a cafe/restaurant. Then it closed, despite being a success, and was bought by the city council to convert into flats.
Next Wednesday the planning committee is being recommended to approve the conversion. Belatedly a campaign group is urging the council to reconsider accusing it of a conflict of interest. It points out that as a planning authority the council seeks to preserve pubs as key part of British culture and social well-being. Yet as a housing provider it is effectively removing a pub, even one that was evolving into more of a hybrid.
The campaigners do have a case especially as the precedent that this unusual case sets will be keenly studied by developers looking to make similar proposal elsewhere.
It is important not to forget that the reason the council bought the building was to provide six homes for people on the council waiting list.
Yet there is a strong feeling that this is a scheme simply in the wrong place.
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