While one Greene King local in Southampton reportedly gets ready to pull its last pint on February 12, another in Bitterne Park is scheduled to reopen the following week after what’s described as a “complete refurbishment”.
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As campaigners rally to try to salvage The Big Cheese on West End Road, which has reportedly already been sold to make way for flats, The Station pub on the corner of Bullar and Macnaghten roads in Bitterne Park, pictured before refurbishment, is gearing up to reopen.
As reported, The Station unexpectedly closed on January 4.
We understand it’s now scheduled to open on the evening of Thursday, February 16.
The Station has apparently received some TLC, in the form of complete internal and external refurbishment, and will boast among other things new signage, a new food menu, a new patio area and a “new drinks product portfolio”.
'The trick is to get an asset of community value registration sorted before there’s a problem'
Meanwhile, in the light of the The Big Cheese news, Paul Jenks, who was instrumental in registering The Junction Inn in St Denys, pictured, as an asset of community value, told bitternepark.info:
“Most people think their pub will be there forever because it’s a big part of their life, and may have been for many years. They don’t realise that it’s actually quite easy to put a pub under threat, with planning laws as they are. The trick is to get an asset of community value registration sorted before there’s a problem.
“It’s no threat to the pub at all, as can be seen by the way The Bittern has been turned around, and The Junction continues to thrive. But it’s definitely something people should think about before they see the letter saying ‘this is going to be turned into a block of flats’.”
He said Southampton City Council is very helpful to people wishing to register buildings as assets of community value, and it’s not just pubs that can be registered.
Links
Asset of Community Value Register page on Southampton City Council website, linking to information on how to make a nomination
Assets of community value – Wikipedia
Protect your pubs as an asset of community value – article on Discover Southampton website 22/7/16