The move by the consumer organisation follows the demolition of Finn MacCool’s pub – which was a listed building – in Bushmills last month (May), and CAMRA NI believes this took place without planning permission.
CAMRA NI, which has sent a letter to the Executive’s infrastructure minister, said: “Pubs must be protected from unlawful conversion and demolition because of their unique community value. Developers found to be flouting the rules should be forced to turn buildings back into pubs or rebuild them brick by brick.”
The group added unlawful demolition or conversion of pubs is now higher in the wider public consciousness after the case of the Crooked House in Himley, Staffordshire, almost two years ago.
The group said: “Across all these islands, we need robust planning protections for pubs and strong enforcements powers where developers have flouted the rules.”
Rebuilt as a pub
CAMRA NI director Ruth Sloan said: “Pubs are key parts of our culture and our social fabric. They are vital community assets and deserve to be properly protected.
“The case of Finn MacCool’s pub in Bushmills being demolished without permission has shone a light on how developers can flout planning rules and protections.
“In other parts of these islands, councils can force developers who have flouted rules to rebuild pubs brick by brick. This should be the case here too.
“CAMRA NI wants Causeway Coast and Glens to require the former Finn MacCool’s building to be rebuilt and reinstated as a pub.
Tackling loneliness
“We also want the infrastructure minister and the Executive to strengthen planning laws so councils must hold unscrupulous developers accountable by forcing them to reinstate pubs that have been converted or demolished unlawfully.”
Within the letter to infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins, CAMRA NI stated: “Pubs… offer a place for communities to meet and to enjoy a drink responsibly in a regulated environment.
“They are key to tackling loneliness and social isolation as well as being an important part of local and visitor economies.”
It added the demolition of Finn MacCool’s “has meant a community has been deprived of a social hub”.
