Cheers as Crown and Goose pub is saved from being demolished

Published: 20th January, 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

IT was drinks all round for regulars at one of Camden Town’s best-loved watering holes after it was saved from  demolition.

Supporters packed into the Town Hall’s public gallery on Thursday night to watch councillors unanimously reject proposals to bulldoze the Crown and Goose pub and neighbouring New Camden Snooker Club.

Developers DE and J Levy won permission to knock down the buildings in Delancey Street in 2008 after winning a planning appeal.

But due to delays in getting started with the construction of a new restaurant and flats on the site, that permission expired forcing the company to seek fresh approval through a new application to the council’s planning department.

The issue was handed over to councillors at Thursday’s meeting and all of those who voted rejected the scheme.

To go ahead with the work, the developers will now need to convince another planning inspector their plans will not harm the area. Camden Council says recent changes to planning laws may make this difficult.

It is the latest reprieve for the Crown and Goose which has enjoyed the support of neighbours and celebrities, including members of Madness, in a series of planning wrangles over the past seven years.

Speaking after the meeting, general manager Ben McDonald said: “We’re ecstatic. Let’s hope the decision is welcomed by the Camden community because that’s who we are representing here. 

“We’ve worked really hard to put the pub on the map the past few years and we’re really grateful for all the support we’ve had.”

When planning inspector Charles Hoile approved the appeal three years ago he said the pub had “no visual distinction” and added that claims that the snooker club was popular was “anecdotal in its scantiness”.

But during Thursday’s meeting, the committee was told new stricter guidelines introduced since 2008 meant councillors had to be sure the new building would provide a “greater contribution” to the area than the existing venues. English Heritage has deemed Camden Snooker Club to be of “historical and archaeological” interest. Built in the 1880s as a public hall, it was converted in 1903 for roller-skating and opened as Camden’s first cinema in 1908.

Margaret Richardson, chairwoman of the Camden Town Conservation Area Advisory Committee (CAAC), said a “faceless” restaurant and flats would be no match for the pub and snooker club.

Camden Town Councillor Chris Naylor added: “We need to focus more strongly on the character of local areas and the proposal sadly threatens the character as well as local facilities.”

Sarah Stevens, planning consultant for DE and J Levy, said their proposals would provide much-needed housing and said they remain confident permission an appeal will prove successful.