DISGRUNTLED residents are calling for action to deal with an eyesore pub in Alcester town centre.
The Three Tuns pub on High Street has been left empty and surrounded by scaffolding since a major fire ripped through the building almost three years ago and left it a gutted shell.
Resident John Deeley said he spoke on behalf of many residents when he declared the fact that no remedial action had yet been taken was “dreadful”, especially after numerous pleas by the community to restore the pub.
He told the Observer: “It is scaffolded encompassing the entire pavement in front of the pub, which I’m sure has health and safety implications for older residents and despite numerous attempts, not just from me, but from other annoyed residents, nobody seems to know what’s going on.
“It is nothing short of disgraceful that here we are nearly three years after the dreadful fire and no action is forthcoming to rebuild this Elizabethan beamed listed building that was once part of the unique heritage in Alcester.”
The grade II listed pub was destroyed by fire in April 2021. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
The pub was leased by Mandy Downes from a landlord believed to be based in Birmingham. Mandy ran the pub with her partner Andy Brown.
It became the subject of an enforcement case by Stratford District Council at the beginning of 2022.
SDC said this week that the enforcement case was still ongoing and could not comment further on this but did reveal a planning application had been submitted to the council a few weeks ago to reconstruct the pub, so progress was being made.
Alcester councillor Coun Susan Juned told The Observer she had been working tirelessly behind the scenes to get the Three Tuns rebuilt.
She explained that in 2021 she had supported a petition of nearly 500 signatures which Alcester residents took to SDC and she had also requested a protective roof in November 2021.
The request was repeated in November 2022 and a tarpaulin roof was finally put in place in January 2023 to protect against the worst weather.
Coun Juned continued: “The pub is in private ownership and the main hold up appears to have been the negotiations between the owners, agents and the insurance company.
“We have stressed the architectural and historic significance of the building and the value to the local community. This is a Grade II building in an historic high street. We have asked that everything should be done to restore the building to the highest possible standards. We want the building to be restored so that it can, once again, become a valued community public house.”
