MP appoints two Black Country landlords to help protect heritage pubs
Dudley North MP Marco Longhi has appointed two 'pub champions' to campaign with him to protect heritage venues.
Mr Longhi pledged support to campaigners from the Save The Crooked House (Let's Get it Re-Built) Facebook group which has over 30,000 followers.
At a meeting at Himley Hall in August after the pub was burned down and bulldozed he met with campaigners and said he would lobby for a 'Crooked House Law' to give more protection to heritage pubs and buildings.
Now he has formed a campaign committee to help him with Ian Sandell, one of the administrators of the Facebook group and a former pub landlord joining James Stevens, the present manager of the Chapel House, Lower Gornal, which itself dates back to 1835.
National campaign group, the Campaign for Pubs, is also lobbying for better protection for pubs in the planning system.
Greg Mulholland the campaign director and former MP, will also sit on the Crooked House committee to provide advice and assistance.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has also launched a 'List your Local' campaign in which pub lovers are being encouraged to help protect historic pubs and stop them being lost for good.
Mr Longhi said: "The Crooked House tragedy clearly shows the need to strengthen our laws, and this is what I have set myself to do. There is also a need to increase the consequences for the perpetrators of arson attacks.
"Ian and James will be good representatives as they are steeped in the Black Country and the pub industry and are passionate about preserving venues in the area and nationwide.
"Andy. Greg and I are on the same wavelength as well as we both want better protection for our heritage pubs.
"I would like the committee to start supporting the development of a list locally in Dudley of those pubs which are of historical significance.
" I encourage everyone to submit their recommendations to WMCA, and I will also submit my recommendations."
James Stevens said: "There seems to be a bit of pattern of community pubs getting burned down or knocked down and it is a crying shame because these are mainly historic venues and we don't want the Black Country or anywhere else to be dominated by coffee shops or retail parks.
"I have worked in pubs since I was around 18 and have always been around them or worked in them. What happened to the Crooked House could have been prevented by pub companies making sure they sell them to people with a community interest at heart and the intention to keep the venues running."
Mr Longhi recently met Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport regarding his campaign and will be lobbying several ministers in Parliament in due course regarding legislative changes.
