Policy information sourced from the Lewisham Local Plan
EC19 Public houses
Strategic Objectives:
A An open Lewisham as part of an open London,
C A thriving local economy that tackles inequalities,
F Celebrating our local identity.
A Public houses are unique and integral features of Lewisham’s neighbourhoods and cultural identity, and perform important community, social and economic functions locally. There will be a presumption in favour of the retention of public houses in Lewisham. Development proposals involving the loss of a public house that has heritage, economic, social or cultural value to the community, including through change of use or redevelopment, will be refused unless there is robust and authoritative evidence in accordance with the advice set out under Appendix 5, to demonstrate that:
- Legitimate efforts have been made to preserve the facility as a public house, including through evidence of regular maintenance and upkeep, good management and through business diversification;
- The public house is not financially viable and there is no reasonable prospect of the premises remaining in this use, or an alternative community use, in the foreseeable future as evidenced through attempts at different business models and management, and an active marketing exercise of a minimum continuous period of three-years; and
- All feasible options for the re-provision of the public house have been fully investigated, and where these are not considered deliverable sufficient justification is provided.
B Development proposals affecting a public house, including its operational and ancillary amenity space, will be refused unless there is robust and authoritative evidence to demonstrate that the viability of the pub, and its current and future operation, will not be compromised and development will not detract from the character and appearance of the building, including any features of historic or cultural significance.
C Development proposals involving the replacement or re-provision of a public house must ensure the replacement facility is of a high quality design and responds positively to local character, taking into account the need to preserve or enhance the significance of heritage assets and their setting. The development proposal must provide an appropriate amount and configuration of floorspace to enable the continued viability of the public house,and should not result in a net reduction of floorspace unless this can be sufficiently justified. This includes dedicated performance space or amenity space that has been or can reasonably be used for cultural or community uses.
D Where the change of use of a public house is considered acceptable by the Council, development proposals must retain the building and other associated features where these makes a positive contribution to local character, including by their historic, streetscape and townscape value.
E Development proposals for new public houses will be supported where they contribute to liveable neighbourhoods by improving people’s access to these community facilities and comply with other Local Plan policies.
For more information and policy context please see the Lewisham Local Plan