Agenda item

Community Pubs

It was moved by Councillor Colin Ross, seconded by Councillor Richard Shaw, that this Council:-

(a)       notes that Sheffield is world famous for its pubs and real ale, and last year was named by the New York Times as the beer capital of Britain;

(b)       recognises the important role local pubs play in the life of our city by providing a community hub for residents to meet, relax, debate and do business;

(c)        notes the recent study by Oxford University for Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) which found that people who have a "local" pub are "significantly" happier, have more friends, better life satisfaction, and drink in moderation compared to those who haven't;

(d)       regrets the decline of community pubs in recent years and notes that last year, figures revealed 46 pubs had shut across Sheffield since 2010;

(e)       notes the recent rejection by this Administration of 9 applications to give some of our city’s best known pubs Asset of Community Value status on the ground that they have no community;

(f)        believes that the Administration is being too stringent in its definition of ‘community’ and that a community can be defined other than by geography; and

(g)       calls on the Administration to support Sheffield’s pubs by:-

(i)         reassessing the definition of community that it uses for Asset of Community Value applications;

(ii)        supporting community groups who wish to register their local pubs as assets of community value; and

(iii)       amending local planning policies to stipulate that no pub will be allowed to change use unless it is demonstrated that continued trading is not economically viable and that the premises has been marketed as a pub unsuccessfully for a stipulated minimum period.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Peter Price, seconded by Councillor Sioned Mair-Richards, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of paragraphs (d) to (g) and the addition of new paragraphs (d) to (f) as follows:-

(d)       regrets the decline in the number of pubs in the city, and understands that this is part of a national trend which can be explained by a range of factors including higher taxes on alcohol, competition from supermarkets selling cheap alcohol and changing demographics; and

(e)       understands that:-

(i)         the Council assess all nominations for Assets of Community Value status impartially and on a case by case basis, according to the Localism Act 2011 and guidance issued in 2012 by the Coalition Government, of which the main opposition group was a part; and

(ii)        when assessing nominations, the decision maker acts only on the information provided in each application and makes no presumptions regarding what is and isn't a community for the purposes of that nomination; and

(f)        notes that there is a review of the assessment process underway, with a view to simplifying the process, which will be developed bearing in mind the comments of all interested parties.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-