- Details
- Written by Mel James-Henry
- Category: Save the Roscoe Head 2015
- CAMRA representatives met on Wednesday last with Councillor Nick Small who informed us that he is urgently pursuing with Liverpool City Council the registration of the Roscoe Head as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) under the Localism Act. This allows a “cooling off period” when the community can help decide the pub’s future e.g. would they wish to purchase it. We are pleased with Cllr Small’s intervention and urge the Council to move forward with this ACV as quickly as possible. Cllr Small has also instigated a petition at Change.org which has received over 1200 signatures and is currently being disseminated via social media.
- Carol Ross, the licensee of the Roscoe Head sought on a number of occasions to buy the pub from Punch Taverns and it is regrettable that they now are selling the pub to NRR. We now urge NRR to offer the Roscoe to Carol at an appropriate cost. This will give Carol the opportunity to develop the Roscoe in the way she would wish i.e. as a thriving and successful business. We note the ongoing development in the immediate vicinity and the expansion of student numbers in Liverpool. This can only help support what is already a successful pub. Historically, The Roscoe Head is one of ONLY FIVE PUBS in the whole of Great Britain that have been in EVERY edition of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. It is an icon and a national treasure.
- CAMRA agreed a number of action points. Essentially, these will involve a vigorous media campaign involving local, regional and national CAMRA officers. We will be writing to local newspapers and offering interviews on radio and television. We encourage all in Liverpool who care about our pub heritage to sign Cllr Small’s petition. Please also write to your local councillor and Member of Parliament. Councillors and MP’s react strongly when faced by a large volume of correspondence. Write also to the non-Executive Chairman of New River Retail, Paul Roy, urging the company to agree to sell the pub to its long term licensee, Carol Ross. Finally, give your support to other campaigns and protests that may be mounted to save the pub. The local press will have details as they emerge. We note that NRR expects “to deliver exceptional cash on cash returns and attractive capital growth through asset management and development. We are confident that this acquisition will add significant long term value for our shareholders." We say this is best achieved by retaining the Roscoe as a pub and selling it to Carol. The appropriate solution and the most sensible one for all concerned."
- Further details of the campaign will be included in the next edition of MerseyAle which will be available in pubs from next week"
- Details
- Written by Mel James-Henry
- Category: Save the Roscoe Head 2015
CAMRA National Chairman Colin Valentine calls passionately for the Roscoe Head to be saved
“With net pub closures still running at almost 30 a week, we can ill afford to lose thriving pubs at the heart of their community such as the Roscoe Head. As one of only five pubs to have been in every edition of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide, and the only one north of Cambridge, the Roscoe Head holds a special place in the hearts of many thousands of CAMRA member's hearts - and I include myself in that list. I have known Carole for a number of years and get to the Roscoe Head whenever I am in the area - even to the extent of taking two friends from Boston (USA) there one miserable January evening in 2012 when we were based in Manchester. No visit to Liverpool, no matter your reason, is complete without a visit to this most iconic of boozers. Carole's family have successfully run the Roscoe for over 30 years and, if CAMRA have anything to do with it, they will do so for the next 30 years. I would urge directors of the Roscoe's new owners, New River Retail, to travel up from London for a day to find out just much of a community asset the pub is and to meet with Carole with a view to negotiating the sale of the pub to her and her family.”
