Predatory Purchasing Of Pubs By Supermarkets

EDM number 761 in 2012-13, proposed by Greg Mulholland on 21/11/2012.
Categorised under the topic of Service industries.

That this House expresses deep concern at the number of wanted and, inmany cases, viable pubs across Great Britain that are being converted into supermarkets without the need for planning permission and without the opportunity for the community to have a say; criticises those supermarkets that are deliberately targeting pubs because of the loophole in planning policy that allows the change of use without planning permission; notes the Campaign for Real Ale'sresearch which shows that since January 2010 130 pubs have been turned into Tesco convenience stores, 22 into Sainsbury's and 54 by other supermarket companies including the Co-operative, Asda and Costcutter; welcomes the steps taken by Cambridge City Council and other councils across the country who are introducing planning policy to make it harder for the change of use and demolition of pubs in planning law; calls on other councils to follow their example; further calls on supermarkets to stop the predatory purchasing of pubs for conversion; and further calls on the Government to make changes to planning laws to ensure that viable and wanted pubs are not converted into supermarkets and free-standing pubs are not demolished without the need for planning permission and without the opportunity for the local community to have their say.

This motion has been signed by a total of 34 MPs.