Westminster Council enforcement action ensured the Carlton Tavern would be rebuilt brick-by-brick.
- Credit: @pubsaving Joanne
News that the Carlton Tavern in Maida Vale could reopen in the next few months is a rare spot of light for our troubled hospitality sector.
The pub s case has been a sad one of course, it should never have been demolished but it was heartening to speak to two would-be publicans who recognise how important a successful watering hole is to a community.
Up in West Hampstead, both the developers hoping to build two extra flats inside of The Alliance pub and the regulars concerned about the planned changes talk of the importance of the pub.
The Alliance pub in West Hampstead.
- Credit: Fordwych RA
Regulars at The Alliance pub in West Hampstead are concerned about a planning application which would see the ground floor space reduced.
Mark Reynolds, who owns the building, has applied to convert some of the pub s ground floor into two flats and compensate for this by creating a new community room in the pub s basement.
Drinkers - and community groups who used the pub as a meeting place prior to the pandemic - are worried the latest application could see the pub s viability impacted.
Keith Moffitt, co-chair of the Fortune Green and West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Forum, told this newspaper: The thing about The Alliance is that it s a pub that does really cater for the West Hampstead community. I have been to funerals, birthday parties, all sorts of meetings there, it s that sort of pub.