REMOVE ALL CROP MARKS FOR PRODUCTION PRINTING 111 HERTFORDSHIRE’S Pints of View The bi-monthly publication for every discerning drinker August / September 2015 Circulati on 8750 No. 272 A bird’s eye view of the 2015 Hitchin Beer and Cider Festival Aerial image taken by www.aerialimagesuk.com South Herts CAMRA’s 2015 best Cider and Real Ale Pubs: Cider - Mermaid, St Albans Ales - Crooked Billet, Ware Your Summer Beer Festivals Planner Page 34 Watford & District award their top festival beer Another successful Gibberd Garden beer festival REMOVE ALL CROP MARKS FOR PRODUCTION PRINTING THE BITTER END 222 The Camp - the First St Albans Pub to be ACV Listed egular readers and local residents will know had an ACV application turned down last year. This that the Camp in Camp Road, St Albans was pub which has not sold real ale for many years, was Rclosed on Friday 15 th May following its sale the last pub built by Benskin’s of Watford (I believe by McMullen’s to Howarth in 1959). The interior and Homes of Pinner - a property exterior have remained developer. The pub was in virtually unchanged and I feel good decorativ e order, has the pub should be listed as an adequate car parking, an example of untouched 1960’s outside patio and appeared to architecture - which are very be trading reasonably well. rare. McMullen’s sold directly to Back to the Camp, the ACV the developers and had not put process can take eight weeks the pub on the market for sale as licensed premises. before a decision is given and we received the good Readers of Pints of View 270 Apr/May edition will news on 9 th July. At this point I would like to thank have read in the article on page 6 that fourteen all those who helped and all those who signed the Mac’s pubs had been closed in the previous twelve two petitions. This is a milestone making the Camp months, with only one - the Farriers Arms in St St Albans’ first ACV listed pub. Albans - remaining open, after its purchase by the Steve Bury licensee. The closure of the Camp was too late for Hertfordshire’s Pints of View is produced by the inclusion on this list, and the Bull at Redbourn has Herts & Essex Borders, North, South Hertfordshire also now been sold by Mac’s to developers. and Watford & District Branches of the Campaign for Needless to say a lot of customers are unhappy at Real Ale (CAMRA). Views expressed are not losing their locals, which have often been closed at necessarily those of the editor, CAMRA Ltd or its very short notice. branches. In the case of the Camp the licensee lost her job and home as she and her staff have not been found alternative work within McMullen’s. The clock was ticking and we only had a couple of weeks to get organised before the closure. A team of local CAMRA members visited the Camp to get the twenty one signatures needed to lodge an Asset of Community Value application to St Albans District Council. Without much difficulty sixty nine Three times winner of customers signed up, and after a few minor CAMRA Hertfordshire Pub of the Year problems with the paperwork the ACV was officially accepted on 11 th May, four days before closure which ensured that a speedy demolition of the pub could not take place. To complement the application an on line petition was set up which gained 615 signatures and was presented to St Albans District Council to consider as part of their deliberations. We have lost several pubs in St Albans recently, the Duke of Marlborough , the Black Lion and the Blue Anchor in addition to the Camp, and the King Offa is now also under threat of closure. My view is that St Albans residents are becoming very unhappy about these local community pubs being converted to housing, which has prompted the enormous support in the Camp’s case. I feel it is important to mention the King Offa which REMOVE ALL CROP MARKS FOR PRODUCTION PRINTING THE BITTER END 333 A call for CAMRA members to protect our community pubs n April 2015 the Government announced new decides to designate a plans to extend planning protection to pubs specific person in the Ilisted as Assets of Community Value (ACV). Any the Branch to manage the pub registered as an ACV will now be subject to a listing process. full planning application should the owner wish to 3. Use the online sell or demolish it. nomination form to This gives CAMRA branches in England a real complete information on opportunity to protect pubs by nominating them to the pubs you wish to be listed as Assets of Community Value. nominate. This should be There are already 800 pubs registered as ACVs done one pub at a time. across the country, and we want to see this number The link is available on increase to 1500 by the end of 2015 and 3000 by CAMRA’s Members website. the end of 2016 to ensure our local pubs are 4. We will use the information you provide to safeguarded in every community. complete your local Council's nomination form, To make the process as simple as possible, CAMRA and return this to you along with the land has now launched a new in-house support service registry documents you need. We can process to assist with ACV nominations. The new support up to 10 nominations per branch per month. service will be available to all CAMRA branches in 5. Finally, submit the returned forms to the relevant England and includes: local authority. We can provide you with the - An online nomination form for branches to contact email or address you need to send these complete and submit to their local authority on to. - Providing members and branches with a copy of Further information: There is also further guidance on CAMRA’s website Land Registry site plans and title registers which here: are often required when submitting http://members.camra.org.uk/group/guest/key- nominations. campaign-2 CAMRA’s Campaigns Officer Faye Grima said: Contact: “CAMRA Branches in England have a real If you have any further questions, please do not opportunity to protect pubs in their area by hesitate to contact CAMRA’s Campaigns Officer nominating them to be listed as Assets of Faye Grima on [email protected] or by Community Value. Without ACV status developers phoning 01727 798 449. can convert local pubs to a wide range of retail uses You can also contact the local CAMRA branches or even demolish them without applying for whose contacts are listed on page 34. planning permission. Want to Advertise in Pints of View? “We therefore want to make the nomination process as easy as possible and hope that the launch of an Pints of View is distributed to over 300 pubs online nomination form will help branches throughout Hertfordshire, and additionally to nominate pubs even without any prior knowledge all public libraries and museums. of the process”. Page Size and Cost (excl. VAT) “This campaign will provide an opportunity for Quarter Page: 74mm x 105mm max size = £55.00 CAMRA Branches to reach beyond our membership Half Page: 148mm x 105mm max size = £100.00 by partnering with other local organisations, pub Please contact us for other advert size rates . tenants, and local political representatives”. Artwork can be made up at extra cost,. Prepared Step by Step Guide for CAMRA members artwork preferred in JPEG, Word or PDF format. nominating pubs to be listed as ACVs using First time advertisers to confirm in writing please. CAMRA’s online form: Contact John Bishop tel: 01582 768478 1. Identify pubs in your area which you want to (ansaphone) — leave message with e-mail address nominate and phone number. Or Email: [email protected] 2. Before nominating on behalf of your local CAMRA Branch, ensure you have permission Deadline for Oct/Nov 2015 Newsletter (273) from the chairman. It may be that the Branch Adverts — 7 Sept 2015, Copy — 7 Sept 2015 REMOVE ALL CROP MARKS FOR PRODUCTION PRINTING Beer Industry News 444 conversions to housing and retail. Anyway, enough Enterprise Inns Massive Pub of Kris who has gone, Marcus supported the Sale Announced CAMRA manifesto before the election in May so s we were going to press on our last edition let’s hope he stands by the pledges he made. Enterprise Inns announced it is to sell a huge Atranche of its pubs. The Campaign for Real Meantime sell out Ale (CAMRA) has ondon’s Meantime brewing company has condemned the plan, been sold to international brewer SABMiller in which will see 1,000 pubs May, just too late to mention in our last being put on the market, in L edition. a move which the pubco Brewer Alastair Hook, who founded the company says is part of a major in 1999 with a group of friends, intends to stay with overhaul to increase its profitability. The company the company. also plans to turn more than 750 of its tenanted pubs Meantime saw its into a managed estate. beer sales grow by 58 CAMRA head of policy and p public affairs Jonathan per cent in 2014, Mail said: “It is disappointing that Enterprise is outpacing the UK seeking to continue to sell large numbers of pubs beer market’s one per each year, many of which will be sold for alternative cent growth during the same period.