Pub removed wall without permission

BY JAMES TWOMEY
james@slpmedia.co.uk

A 182-year-old Grade-II listed pub has had a wall removed in the middle of the building without the owners asking for planning permission.

Management of the Trafalgar Tavern in Park Row, East Greenwich – erected in honour of Lord Nelson’s famous naval victory – ripped out the partition to create an open plan room just before Christmas. But the move has infuriated conservationists and residents.

Zachary Osborne, conservation adviser from the Georgian Group, said: “The case is certainly very concerning.

“The recent works, which appear to have involved the removal of original internal subdivisions, have had a significant harmful impact on the character of the building, and the legibility of its original plan form and would certainly have required listed building consent.

“Regardless of whether any of the decorative finishes date to the post-war period, the lack of due process, oversight, and the entirely modern character of the present open-plan arrangement is unacceptable.”

Resident and pub user Chris Hales said he was horrified at the changes.

He said: “I love that pub. It’s a great pub. I wish it hadn’t happened.

“Before Christmas, the middle partition wall was removed and changed into an open plan. “The intricate plasterwork is gone and so is the historic look of nearly 200 years.

“It’s the centre of a heritage site and I’m amazed it could be done. It shouldn’t be done with or without permission. We are eating away at historic parts of Greenwich.”

A Greenwich council spokeswoman said: “Council officials visited the Trafalgar Tavern to identify what works had been carried out.

“Since the visit, our officers have been in communication with the owner and his planning agent, and we are waiting to receive a regularisation application for the work that has been carried out.”

A regularisation application can be made to the council after work is taken out to request permission from the council. Despite repeated requests, management of the pub have failed to make a comment.