A bit of a cross post here from PnP.
This was going to be a post predominantly about Fridays planning visit and subsequent meeting for the new East West Centre in Hanley. Unfortunately the councillors’ site visit was more flexible than we were told and they altered the route so we were not able to catch up with them as planned. Instead we went to the Coachmakers Arms where the councillors were due to visit at around 1130, on arrival we were told by Sue the landlady that the councillors had visited the area around the Coachmakers a little after 1000 before moving on, they believe that this was because they did not want to meet up with the regulars who were holding a ‘Save Our Pub’ protest.
Now I must say at this point I wholly support the regeneration of all the towns in Stoke-on-Trent, anyone who reads this site regularly will know from my comments that I am passionate about the city its regeneration and also it’s history. I’m also passionate about pubs!
The Coachmakers Arms is probably the finest example of a late 1800s public house in the City, having had very little remodelling over the last 100 or so years. Unfortunately there have been enough renovations and changes made that it is not likely to ever make it to listed status. That said, it is still a fine example of what was a typical Midlands public house. It retains the original 4 rooms off a central corridor with each room being individual in character. The bar is the original bar, although it has had a new top in recent years. The back bar is also believed to be wholly original.
Over the past 5 or so years under the management of Jason & Sue the Coachmakers Arms has won numerous awards locally and regionally.
Harold Harper, Chair of the Potteries Pub Preservation Group says that the pub interior is that of a living museum and should be retained for the future. ‘If I never came in this pub again, I would want the interior to be retained so people could still see what pubs were like when we were at the heart of British & worldwide manufacturing here in Stoke on Trent’.
Phil Glover, a regular customer of the Coachmakers believes that the pub should be retained, he went on to tell me how supporters of the Coachmakers Arms have spoken to people from Realis Estates in the past and tried to offer different options other than pulling the pub down. He said the impression we got when talking to the developers was one of ‘the pub is in the way it needs to go, we don’t want a scruffy pub near our nice new development’. There are examples of pubs in Liverpool and Manchester, which have been retained as part of the regeneration. Phil went on to say, that if the pub was going to be replaced by a car park then surely it is not beyond the whit of man and the architects to build the car park over and around the pub, or even move it. Sinclairs Oyster Bar and the Old Wellington in Manchester have been physically moved twice in recent years.
At around 1130 the councillors & officers who were on the site visit appeared down Lichfield St, they had circumnavigated the area around the pub.
From what we saw while we were there, the group did not even visit Birch Terrace, we assume so they did not get accosted by the supporters.
As they walked down Lichfield Street they did not even look down the road towards the Coachmakers let alone stop, then rather than coming to meet some of the supporters face to face, they went to the Victoria Halls, shortly after they could be seen viewing the City from a Balcony on the top floor of the halls.
David Rayne from Cobridge did his best to attract the attention of the group by jumping up and down waving at them but they decided to ignore him.
I asked David why he used the Coachmakers, he told me that it was one of the friendliest pubs he had found in the City and that he regularly travels from Cobridge for a pint.
Just after 1200 the councillors & officers drove past the Coachmakers in their bus on the way back to the Civic Centre. They were seen parked upon double yellow lines blocking a bus stop opposite McDonalds on Victoria Rd shortly after, this was either the lunch stop or the East West centre is going to be even bigger than we thought!
The meeting of the planning committee to approve the outline plans for the East West Centre has been covered already on PnP by Tony so I won’t go over the whole meeting again. But I will cover a couple of points.
I have to say that in the interview that Tony had with Duncan Mathieson from Realis, Duncan did not sound interested in the city at all, this is just a business transaction to him, the only time there is any sign of emotion from him is when Tony asked him about his links to the city and Duncan spoke briefly about his interest in athletics.
I find it interesting that the meeting to approve outline planning for a project worth around £250 millions only 5 members were at the meeting. There are 13 places on the committee with one currently vacant, but less than 50% interest in this project from our elected councillors (they work for us!) speaks volumes in my mind. One councillor was on holiday so could be excused but what about the other six? Unfortunately I did not get to the meeting early enough to hear apologies for absence so I don’t know if they did send apologies or if they just stayed in bed because it was Friday 13th.
The discussion and debate was so intense that one member appeared to go to sleep during the meeting!
It was stated during the meeting that the Birch Terrace & Coachmakers Arms area was needed for a car park, with the bus station being opposite on what is now John St car park. In Mr Mathiesons presentation he said that the ‘flagship department store’ needed to be built on this plot of land. This was a requirement for them to gain commitment from any of the major chains. It is widely known that as yet no store has put their hand up to be the ‘flagship’ store in the new development. So is Birch Terrace & The Coachmakers Arms going to be a car park or a yet to be signed up ‘flagship store’?
During the meeting it was stated that the building project would create 1500 jobs, I do not think for one minute that these will all come from the local area. Realis use their architects, Benoy, in turn Benoy will use contractors that they already know. They are unlikely to come in to the local area looking for companies who can do X Y &Z, they will look in the BlackBerrys for the same old contractors they used on all the other developments. There will not be a great deal of skilled work available in the local area, as ever the local population will have to fight over minimum wage labouring jobs.
I’m going to stop pulling statements from the meeting apart because I am starting to sound negative and I’m not!
The top and the bottom of this is, we need to support the Coachmakers in their fight to be saved. Will they get to stay where they are, I unfortunately think this is unlikely, but, there is more than one way to skin a developer.. Why not see what land will be available as part of the development and look in to getting the pub moved. The argument that it is not a stand alone building is not an issue, there are loads of buildings in Stoke on Trent which have had their neighbours removed yet still stand. It is not impossible to move a building lock stock and barrels but it may be infeasible
The important bit of the Coachmakers is not the actual building itself but the interior, so another option would be to move the inside of the pub in to a new building locally. Realis own £30 millions worth of property in the city, purchased as part of this development, they are not going to pull every single building down, so what about looking at the buildings available, go back and speak to the developers, speak to the brewery, can a compromise be found? I’m sure the purists will say, ‘but it won’t be the same pub’, no it won’t but what is better having the heart of the pub in a new building or just memories?
Realis know as well as the supporters of the Coachmakers, this is not just going to go away. Outline planning permission is only the first step and I’m sure Jason, Ann & the supporters will fight all the way, so maybe the developers would be open to ideas on how to resolve this issue other than with bulldozers..
I urge you all to support the Save the Coachmakers appeal and I urge Jason, Ann & the rest of the team to look at ways to keep the pub open for years to come..
I tried to speak to Jason Barlow after the meeting but understandably he was too upset to speak, but I have dropped him an E-mail to try and arrange an interview with him and also Harold Harper from PPPG.
More photos from Friday can be seen on our photographers Flickr Page.
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