Pubs must be ‘neighborhood owned’ to assist them thrive and survive
Labour MP Alistair Strathern made the case while on a visit to the UK’s first community-owned pub, the Red Lion in Preston, Hitchin, which almost became a steakhouse chain
The next generation of pubs should be owned by communities, not distant shareholders, ministers have been told.
Labour MP Alistair Strathern made the case while on a visit to the UK’s first community-owned pub, the Red Lion in Preston, Hitchin. The pub’s owners were due to turn it into a steakhouse chain, but the community challenged the sale and raised the amount needed to buy it through individual shares from community members in 1983.
The pub has been in community hands ever since, and now thrives as a vital community space. Hitchin MP Mr Strathern said: “You couldn’t ask for a better example of a cracking local pub than the Red Lion, which has served Preston for centuries.
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“But it was community ownership that saved this pub, and now it is owned and run by the people who love it most.
“Labour is building a legacy of community ownership across the country, making sure every local group has the best possible chance to own the places that matter most to them.
“The Community Right to Buy will help us save many more pubs like this one, and safeguard them for the future.”
The Community Right to Buy gives community groups first dibs when pubs become available to buy, blocking private buyers for a year.
The Mirror’s Your Pub Needs You campaign has long called for better support for pubs as important community spaces.
As well as saving them, the Co-operative Party says community ownership will safeguard them for the future.
Co-operative Party General Secretary Joe Fortune said: “Community ownership keeps important community spaces alive, at a time when so many have closed their doors.
“Places like the Red Lion have put power and ownership in the hands of local people, rather than distant profit-driven shareholders.
“Removing blockers to community ownership will unlock this better way of doing business for a new generation.
“Owned by the community and run for the community – that should be the future for pubs everywhere”.
Landlord Ray Lambe added: “The village owns this pub so they are incentivised to come here, and it’s got a much stronger community spirit because of that.”
