A Walworth community group is canvassing locals for what they would want out of a ‘community pub’ for their area.
Matthew Meynell of the Walworth community pup group said that he wanted to create a pub that would help bring local people from different walks of life together.
Noting that food poverty is an issue in Walworth, he said that alongside things that would bring in more traditional punters, affordable food could be a priority. Other options could be a wide range of non-alcoholic drinks, and possibly space for local community groups in the daytime.
But the character of the new pub would be led by the responses to the survey.
Starting up a new pub is likely to be a long process. Once the survey results come back, the group will start looking for possible premises, and then fundraising by selling off shares in the pub, which would be likely to go for as little as £100.
Mr Meynell, who co-owns a pub in Wales, said it was difficult to give an exact fundraising target, but that if the organisation were to buy its own premises it would need to raise a sum in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Cllr Alice Macdonald of the Newington ward is helping with the campaign and added that it was important to people from all walks of life, with women’s safety a top priority.
Murder, shooting parties and a parachuting monkey: 200 years of Walworth’s Beehive pub
The survey comes after a bid to convert the ground floor of the 200-year-old Beehive pub into flats was rejected at a Southwark Council planning committee last week, after a campaign by the Walworth Society, another local group, backed by ward councillors.
Nearly 250 people objected to the application on the council’s planning website, with commenters pointing to the pub’s rich history and civic importance to the local area.
Rejecting the application, the council said the conversion would mean the loss of a community asset, adding that the planned flats would be “poor quality” and that there were fire risk concerns.
The pub, which has been out of use for about two years, would be one possible venue for the community pub, Mr Meynell said – but far from the only option.
If you would like to find out more about the community pub idea, email walworthcommunitypub@gmail.com
To take part in the survey, click below. Alongside the survey, there will be pop up events for organisers to speak to locals who are less active online.