The Duke of Edinburgh public house

by Richard Matz

Nov 18, 2020

Please object to these retroactive planning proposals that will see yet another pub lost on the fringes of our area. Change of use from pub to restaurant - this the main one and the Stout Yeomanry of CAMRA have pitched in:
Change of Use from A4 to A3

Though this one is really cheeky.
Prior(?) approval for change of use from pub (Drinking Establishment A4) to A3 (Restaurants and Cafés) Prior Approval? You can object via the 'Comment on Application' tabs. The Consultation Period ends on 07/12/20.

This shopfront pub had long lay dormant and closed. A planning application dated from May
2019 (Ref: HGY/2019/1417) for the pub is still shown as pending. This retains the use of the ground floor &
basement as a pub but includes the extension and conversion of the premise's upper floors to 8 residential
units. As this included the proviso that the pub would be retained for A4 use, there was no strong local
objection. However, in August 2020, refurbishment work began on the premises and it suddenly opened as
The Nivan Restaurant, a Turkish kebab house with seating. The Nivan

I was never a huge fan of The Nelson pub but that was down to its poor unimaginative management, and former ownership by Greedy King. The Prince N22 and The Antwerp Arms N17 have shown that formerly rundown old boozers can be turned into thriving community assets. I fear that retroactive planning approval will be granted to save the cost of litigation on the Council's behalf - the kind of consistent avoidance of coherent planning responsibility by Haringey Council that has seen Wood Green blighted by a preponderance of fried chicken shops, kebab houses, bookies, charity & pound shops, and a general decline of the area as a shopping centre.

Pubs lost don't return. Since 2000, the Office of National Statistics reports that a quarter of pubs have closed in the UK, totalling more than 13,000 locations. Four out of five people have seen a pub close down within five miles of their home, five in my immediate locality (The Fishmongers Arms, The Alexandra, The Nightingale, The Jolly Anglers and now The Lord Nelson). This loss is only going to be accelerated with the impact of COVID-19, and the predatory advances of property developers prioritising profit over local community needs.

  • up

    Daniel Cowan

    Hi Richard,

    You may not be aware, but the government recently made some big changes to the planning use classes:

    https://www.planninggeek.co.uk/use-class/use-class-changes-in-2020-21/

    This may affect how you frame your objections to these proposals, but I am not sure at the moment.

    Daniel

    4

    Nov 22, 2020

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    • up

      Richard Matz

      Duke of Edinburgh public house

      Attempts to legitimise the unauthorised conversion of the pub into a restaurant were rejected by Haringey last November. Four months later, the restaurant is still trading without authorisation. You will note that there are no alcoholic drinks are available on the menu:

      Areca Restaurant

      Emboldened by Haringeys lack of enforcement of its own planning regulations, the owners have now submitted a planning application for a far more substantial redevelopment of the site. You will notice that the application disingenuously refers to the pub that is no longer there:

      HGY/2022/0723 - Erection of a rear roof extension to existing public house building to create 21 Class C1 guest rooms across first, second and third floors above retained pub, and erection of a 5 storey building to rear to provide 9 no. Class C3 residential flats, with basement below to serve pub.

       DoE Planning App 2022

       I have submitted a complaint about the Haringey’s lack of enforcement of its own planning regulations which encourages illicit building and construction (e.g. The Lord Nelson pub still trading as a restaurant despite planning refusal)

       “But the pub was derelict... they’ve made such a nice job of it...” came the cry. But what if they had made a really bad job of it? If a family home next to you was made into a House of Multiple Occupancy without planning permission where half a dozen or more vulnerable people are overcrowded into small unsanitary spaces - Who do you complain to? A planning dept with no teeth? Want to see a planning Free4All? Walk through the fug of woodsmoke and charring flesh down Wood Green High Road this weekend. Note the proliferation of pound shops, mobile phone/vaping shacks, casinos, bookies, chicken & kebab shops.

      Yeah or Nay, please submit your comments on the application on the above link

      Apr 2, 2022