Turf Tavern pub in Thanet Road given a reprieve

Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust were part of a scheme that would have seen Turf Tavern on Thanet Road, Dringhouses, demolished.

But the local community campaigned for it to stay open including hundreds who signed a petition.

Then, as members of the city council’s executive debated the scheme as part of its bid for £41 million of Government money to improve the city’s housing stock, news broke that the trust had pulled out of the scheme.

Paul Gledhill was among campaigners who celebrated the news in the pub. “We are now a lot more optimistic than we were,” he said. “But we realize it is only a battle won, rather than the war.”

Dringhouses councillor Tom Holvey said: “I am absolutely delighted that this decision has been made and would like to thank Coun Andrew Waller for listening to the community’s concerns. I will continue to work with local residents to ensure that the Turf Tavern remains a public house and can be of benefit to the local community.”

Campaigners are now seeking a meeting with the pub’s owner over its future.

At the start of the executive’s meeting, Mark Warters of Osbaldwick and a leading opponent of the trust’s Derwenthorpe scheme which is also part of the bid for Government money, spoke strongly against the Turf Tavern scheme. “I don’t feel it worthwhile remaining at the meeting to hear the result,” he said and immediately walked out.

So he was not in the meeting when Steve Waddington, assistant director of housing and public protection, was called out to take an urgent call.

When the officer returned, he revealed the trust’s decision, which was welcomed by executive members.

Coun Ann Reid said the pub was well supported in the community and encouraged council officers to find other sites in the city where the Government housing money could be spent. But she said she could not prejudge any future planning application that might come forward for the site, which would be dealt with on its merits.