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Jon Snow among the jubilant crowd outside the council chamber on Thursday |
Who saved the Torriano pub?
Politicians squabble, but should credit really go to TV presenter Jon Snow?
THE question on many a dry mouth is this: who deserves a free pint at the Torriano?
The Town Hall planning committee’s dismissal of an application from a developer to build homes above the popular Kentish Town pub has brought an unseemly squabble over who most deserves an “I Saved The Torriano” T-shirt.
With a by-election looming, the Liberal Democrats are claiming the credit, while the Greens and Labour say they did more to help the pub.
But Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow might trump them all, having spoken out against the developer’s plans in the council chamber on Thursday.
The plans were rejected by seven votes to two – five Lib Dems and two Labour councillors voted against them, with two in favour, one Green, one Labour. Three Tories abstained.
The timing of the October 30 poll did not escape the notice of the disappointed developer, which has warned it will appeal against a decision based on “politics, not planning”.
In a long-running saga, landlords Dean Guberina and Suzi Martin have faced months of uncertainty after the owners of the Torriano Avenue bar’s freehold applied to convert rooms above the pub into new homes, and turn the cellar performance space into a kitchen.
Thursday’s split vote brought Lib Dem criticism of the Greens for not backing the publicans after Councillor Maya De Souza said she was worried there was no planning law to support refusal.
Lib Dems are claiming the victory as theirs in a leaflet as by-election candidate Nick Russell prepares to face the Greens’ Victoria Green and Labour’s Awale Olad.
Green councillor Adrian Oliver said: “It was highly irresponsible behaviour in return for a few votes.”
But Lib Dem councillor Ralph Scott defended his party’s stand, insisting that he did not believe the developer was committed to keeping the pub open. He added: “This was a cynical ploy to get the pub closed permanently.”
But Debbie Shalson, a director of the owner Spaces, said the future of the pub was never in doubt as there were no plans to change the ground-floor bar, and that she would appeal.
She added: “I want to make it absolutely clear we have no intention of closing the Torriano. This application was to put flats in upstairs and improve the pub.”
Mr Snow, whose home is a stone’s throw from the pub garden, likened the campaign to a protest five years ago to keep open the Pineapple, a Victorian pub just streets away. He said: “The question is simple: do we want to keep our communities together or allow property developers to rip the heart out of them?”
Landlady Suzi Martin said the planners’ decision had come as a “delightful surprise”. She added: “It is amazing news. We didn’t expect this.”
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