One regular comment we often hear on Social Media is, ‘what is CAMRA doing?’. Below is a summary of some the campaigning we are currently involved with. However, campaigning is only successful with the support of our members. Please get involved where you can.
Campaigning as pubs and clubs reopen
We have been running the Pulling Together campaign since the start of the Covid-19 period and this will be continuing as pubs and clubs continue to re-open and re-establish themselves in their communities. We expect to continue this for the foreseeable future, as it will be a long time before there is a return to ‘normal’ trading conditions.
Likely change of use threat to pubs and letter to send to Local Planning Authorities
In mid-May Paul Ainsworth, CAMRA’s National Planning Policy Advisor, wrote to all branches highlighting the increased threat to pubs from pub owners and developers using the Coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to obtain permission for change of use or demolition of pubs. CAMRA nationally also wrote to planning officials at all Local Planning Authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, imploring them to stick firmly to existing planning policies that protect pubs. See article on how you can get involved.
Locally Liverpool CAMRA have managed to get the ACV (Accent of Community Value) renewed on the Roscoe Head and are ensuring other ACVs on pubs are renewed before they expire.
Campaigning on COVID-related pub company and rent issues
As soon as pubs were ordered to close to help combat the spread of COVID-19 (except for delivery and takeaway), CAMRA called on pub companies to cancel rent for tenants. In the pub industry, rent is typically charged to tenants based on the turnover of their pubs – so our position is that pubs that had no turnover should not have been paying any rent.
In mid-April we launched the ‘Save Pubs – Cancel Rent’ e-lobby, targeted at the CEOs of the five regulated pub companies that had not at the time cancelled rent for their tenants (Ei Group, Greene King, Marstons, Punch Taverns and Star Pubs and Bars).19,000 people took part in the elobby
In July we launched the Cheers for Choice petition – aimed at trying to get pub owning companies to offer tied tenants more choice in what they can stock on reopening. This is to help make their offer to consumers as attractive as possible and give pubs that are reopening the best chance possible at surviving and thriving into the future. And throughout the period, CAMRA representatives have made many media appearances highlighting these issues and helped draw attention to similar campaigning by other organisations or individuals, including Members of Parliament.
Encouraging people to submit updates/feedback to WhatPub entries – resources for branches
Keeping WhatPub up to date is a huge task for the branch pub officers and they cannot know about changes to every pub in the branch area. You are the local experts, which is why the pub details and descriptions that appear on whatpub.com come from CAMRA branches. All CAMRA members can put information into WhatPub and this is what makes CAMRA's pub guide so different (and we would say better) from other online pub guides.
CAMRA members are key in finding out all the important things we need to know about pubs, including opening times, location and real ales served as well as other information that goes beyond what is used in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide such as photos.
The aim is to get every pub in the Liverpool & Districts branch area listed and regularly updated on whatpub.com with all entries complete with up to date information such as descriptions and photos.
You can help by inputting beer quality scores into WhatPub (these help us pick Pub of the Year and entries for the Good Beer Guide), and by making a note of any changes to beer ranges, opening hours or new facilities in the pubs.
Conclusion
Over an unprecedented and extremely challenging period for the UK’s pubs, CAMRA volunteers all over the country have played a huge role in promoting the voice of pub consumers and encouraging a successful (eventual) return to normality for the industry. Your efforts to date and in the future are hugely appreciated.
Taken from CAMRA memo issued by
Ben Wilkinson
Chair, Pub and Club Campaigns Committee
