Officials say OK despite concerns about 24-hour drinking

A FEARED ‘super-pub’ in the heart of Camden Town is due to be given the green light by planning officials – despite the Town Hall’s campaign against 24-hour drinking because of binge drinking in the area.
Shell-shocked residents are stunned that experts in the council’s planning department have approved plans to demolish the Crown and Goose pub and the neighbouring New Camden Snooker Club on the corner site of Delancey Street and Arlington Road.
More than 550 protest letters have piled up at the Town Hall objecting to the plans which open up the possibility of a large bar trading underneath a new block of flats.
Among those against the plan are Holborn and St Pancras MP Frank Dobson, entertainer Julian Clary, comedian Phil Jupitus and members of the pop group Madness.
On Sunday, snooker-ace-turned-TV-presenter John Virgo became the latest famous face to join in when he called for the snooker hall to be saved during a trickshot session.
Investigations by the New Journal have revealed that the land is registered in the names of senior staff of a City law firm called Penningtons, while the application for the pub has been submitted by property agents DE & J Levy.
It is understood that the two companies have close links on property deals. In none of the papers is it made clear which operator would lease the new building and major breweries are remaining tight-lipped over whether they would be interested in opening a branch on the site.
Camden leader Councillor Jane Roberts last night (Wednesday) said the council’s licensing fight should not be confused with the Crown and Goose application.
She said: “This is paranoia. We have been quite clear on what we have been saying to DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) and that is we are concerned about the financial implications for tax-payers of dispensing our new responsibilities. We are not talking here about individual applications. I do not know details of this application.”
Many residents say the application is damning proof that Camden Town’s rowdy drinking quarter is threatening to creep into residential back streets.
Mr Dobson said: “I don’t think Camden Town needs another big noisy pub. I don’t think residents think Camden Town needs one. Nobody who lives in Holborn and St Pancras thinks they are living in Chipping Campden but they do have the right to expect some peace from noisy bars. I hope the committee will stick to its guns and refuse the application.”
Warning that the case would be watched carefully by big breweries to see if they too could open bars off Camden High Street, Mr Dobson added: “If they approve the application, it would send a message that big bars can open in residential streets.”
The new planning advice, released to the public yesterday (Wednesday) has dismissed residents’ concerns in a step-by-step breakdown.
Several objections have been thrown out for not being related to strict planning guidelines and throughout the report it is warned that the two buildings have little architectural merit.
Councillors will now have the final say at a make-or-break meeting on Thursday with members under increasing pressure to ignore the advice of the Town Hall’s own officials.
The release of the advice has set a seven-day clock running on a furious last push to save the pub, seen by campaigners as a symbol of the area’s fight to keep high-capacity bars from squeezing out traditional local pubs.
The case has taken on heightened significance because of Camden’s ongoing battle to dampen fears surrounding the prospect of big breweries demanding later opening hours in drink hotspots like Camden Town under new licensing laws.
The scramble for new round-the-clock licences is due to kick off on Monday.
Precise details of the Delancey Street application are still unclear.
Council officials say the ground floor could be used as a café or restaurant but a proposed layout shows that, despite a large area for customers, there is only a small allocation for a kitchen.
Writer Tess Read, one of the organisers of the campaign to stave off the bulldozers, said: “We want as many people as possible to turn up for the meeting on Thursday February 10. It is an important issue for people in this area.”
Objectors successfully fought plans to demolish the corner site in late 2003. On that occasion, however, they had the advantage of advice from officials which opposed the demolition on planning grounds. Civil servants now say their concerns have been addressed with a proposal which fits in with neighbouring buildings, such as the listed Tramshed studio in Arlington Road.
A spokesman for DE & J Levy said: “We feel we have addressed the concerns of planning officials from the previous application. It is a complete redevelopment but it fits into the profile of the street.”