Why are so many pubs being shut across the city and how can we save them?

IT was a reluctant decision that one former landlord Rick Brewster was forced to make when he was faced with soaring gas and electricity bills and fewer and fewer customers.

In February, he closed the doors of the Swan and Salmon, making barmaid Anne Smith redundant after 43 years.

It was just three years after Rick took over the pub with dreams of turning into a thriving watering hole. The Ashbourne Road venue is now to be transformed into flats and a convenience store.

Rick said: "It was devastating, really. I had to let Anne go after all those years and I had invested a lot of time and money into the pub. I had put in new carpets and had totally refitted the kitchen.

"But the spiralling costs of electricity and gas and the smoking ban meant that it got to the point where I had more money going out than was going in.

"Customers would say, 'it's nothing against you, Rick, but we can sit at home and watch the football and smoke' and they could get cans for next to nothing from the supermarket."

But Rick is not alone. In the past year, 13 pubs in Derby have either closed temporarily or permanently or been turned into flats.

And there are now fewer pubs in Derby than at any point since the Second World War with just 168 still operating as drinking holes.

As a result, traditional pub crawls like the famous Derby Mile along Ashbourne Road are no longer as popular as they once were.

The figures for pub closures come from the East Midlands branch of the Campaign For Real Ale, which says the only comfort that can be taken from its recent survey of the pub trade in the city is that pubs which specialise in cask ale have fared better than most.

John Arguile, from Camra, said much of the downturn in pubs' profits was as a result of cut-price alcohol being sold by supermarkets.

He said: "The net result of this upheaval is that Derby has fewer pubs than any time since 1945.

"It does, however, leave space for the dozen or so expected licences planned for the Riverlights development.

"So, is this what the city planners had in mind in allowing the decimation of our existing pub stock?

"The only redeeming feature, from the Camra angle, is that cask ale pubs have fared better than pubs generally."

This is evidenced in the fact that the Greyhound, in Ashbourne Road, is soon to be transformed into a real ale pub by father-and-son team Trevor and Paul Harris.

They are behind the Derby Brewing Company, which runs the thriving Brewery Tap at The Royal Standard, which they reopened 18 months ago.

Trevor said the secret to running a successful pub was selling a unique product and hard work.

He said: "We are in a quality beer market and, incredibly, we are finding that sales are going up, not down. People can't buy a quality, cast conditioned product from the supermarket.

"But the general picture is quite scary and the Government has not helped. They should be supporting pubs but instead they are making things more difficult. If I were to sum up the Government's and the pub trade's performance this year, I would say: Must try harder."

And Camra agrees. Julian Tubbs, Camra's East Midlands regional director, said a pub's success was down to who was at the helm., adding: "If the right people are running a pub, it will do well.

"It is all about getting the right people in."

Other pubs to have closed their doors in recent months include the Angler's Arms in Nottingham Road, Spondon, the Blue Pool in Stenson Road, Sunny Hill, and the Cock and Bull in Sinfin Lane, Derby.

There is some positive news for Chellaston residents, as the Lawns Hotel, which recently closed, is being renovated with new owners hoping to open a restaurant in the spring.

Mr Tubbs said: "The picture in Derby is not as bad as you might think from the gossip, but it is worrying.

"The Osmaston Road area is really bad. There is now not one pub between the ring road and the city centre – that is a big hole in the community."

Mr Tubbs put the pubs' demise down to the loss of football trade in the area and the decline of lunchtime drinking by Rolls-Royce employees – and he was particularly concerned about pubs being converted into convenience stores.

His fears follow the transformation of the Blue Pool into a Tesco Express.

Residents living nearby complained that they were not consulted.

That is because pubs and convenience shops are in the same planning class, meaning that developers do not need to apply for a change of use.

He said: "Camra has been lobbying the Government for some time to create a single-use class for public houses, so that conversion to food stores and takeaways can't happen without serious consideration of the community loss. So far we have not been rewarded with success.

"Another thing that is currently lacking is any protection for community pubs in the city's structure plan.

"It has already been pointed out recently that a high percentage of the pubs in the Sinfin/Littleover, Osmaston, Allenton and Alvaston areas are currently under some sort of threat.

"That is in addition to the previous losses – the Football Tavern, Arboretum, Barley Mow and Nightingale – which has left the A514 without a functioning pub from the Spot right through to Allenton."

But Richard Williams, assistant director of regeneration and communities at Derby City Council, said the council did have some powers in terms of granting restrictions on the future use of new pubs.

He added however, that the authority was bound by national planning legislation when restricting the change of use of existing pubs to other uses such as shops and restaurants.

He said: "Pubs and convenience stores are in the same planning class, and so change-of-use permission is not needed by developers, and therefore there is little, if any, consultation with local residents.

"We're aware of the current economic challenges facing the pub trade in recent years but we also have a responsibility to grant permissions for any venture that provides economic regeneration in a locality.

"Of course, pubs are often a significant element of the local street scene, so wherever possible we encourage owners and occupiers to retain the external features of the buildings."