Chesham Arms appeal success
Hackney Council has become the first in the country to successfully defend an appeal against a decision to list a popular pub as an asset of community value (ACV).
The Chesham Arms, once frequented by comedians Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, was closed by its owners in October 2012 who claimed the business was no longer profitable.
It had become Hackney's first ACV in March 2011 meaning the owners would not be permitted to sell the pub without first offering community groups the chance to purchase it.
But the owner of The Chesham Arms, Mukund Patel, had requested an appeal of the Council's decision.
The vocal Save The Chesham campaign has protested to keep the venue as part of the community since its closure and oppose any plans to turn the building into housing or offices.
Our concern all along has been to protect The Chesham Arms from developers and to retain it as a valuable community hub. Pubs like the Chesham Arms bring together local residents and help to build close neighbourhoods, and they deserve to be protected. The current owner should either re-open this historic building as a pub or sell it to someone who will.
More than 40 people attended the landmark hearing at Hackney Town Hall, the first of it's kind to be heard in the UK since the introduction of ACV listing by the Localism Act in 2011.