9.0
COMMUNITY OWNED PUBS The duality of the pub as both a social space and a commercial venture has led to a perpetual yoyoing of the pub from the hands of the State to the hands of the developer. To remove the pub from the control of both could allow the typology to be unlocked as a truly public space. There is a growing movement of communities buying and reclaiming the derelict pubs in their areas to save their local pubs from developer ‘Grim Reapers’. Community ownership allows pubs to consider the needs of a diverse range of shareholders in order to accommodate a larger portion of the community in its activities.
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Renovations often introduce additional uses such as cafes, libraries, gardens and theatres, supported by charities such as the Prince Charles backed ‘Pub is the Hub’ who acknowledge the vital social role that the pub plays in rural and suburban neighbourhoods. There are obvious parallels to be drawn here between these additions and those of the State Management Scheme a century previous. CAMRA keep track of all the community owned pubs being set up in England, which at time of writing total 147 36. One such pub to pay particular attention to is The Bevy, Brighton, which claims to be the only community owned pub on a working-
