Owners of Crooked House agree to rebuild ‘Britain’s wonkiest pub’ - providing it's in a new location
by Jenny Medlicott · LBCBy Jenny Medlicott
The owners of the Crooked House have agreed to a rebuild the pub providing it's built in a new location, planning documents show.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
In February, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street announced that an enforcement notice had been made to rebuild the pub after it was gutted in a fire last year and demolished days later.
The destruction of the boozer, based in Himley near Dudley, led to heartbreak among locals as it was a beloved tourist attraction that dated back to 1735.
The pub was known for its sloping walls and floor which were caused by mining subsidence in the area.
After receiving the enforcement notice, the owners of the pub lodged an appeal and a planning inspector was appointed to decide, which will be heard in July.
But documents show that the owners have not actually refused to rebuild the iconic pub, they have just said they don’t want to rebuild it in its original location.
A document submitted on the owner's behalf shows they plan to rebuild the beloved boozer on another piece of land they own to “increase footfall”.
The document states: “The appellant has not refused to rebuild the building and has actively engaged with the council regarding this.
Read more: Inside Crooked House pub owners' lavish lifestyle - from Dubai holidays to Bentleys
“Requiring a re-build in the same location, whilst reflective of popular opinion, will not change the fact that the building in that location is not viable as a public house.
“For this reason, the appellant has put forward a sustainable, and what it sees as a genuine and practical solution to the issue, to the council that it rebuild the building on other land that it owns, to operate as a public house, with other development to increase footfall and give the pub and the building a real chance of success as a community asset.
“The proposal locates a newly-constructed Crooked House pub along with appropriate parking and landscaping further north off Crooked House Lane and as near to the highway junction with the Himley Road as would allow.”
The documents also reveal the reason the pub was demolished without permission last year, as it said initially council officers had only agreed to the removal of three elements of the building to make it safe.
However, after council officers left the site, the document says there were additional issues and “it had not been foreseen that removal of the three elements instructed would render the remainder of the building unsafe”.
“Removal of the upper sections of the building took with it the steel tie ins which rendered the remaining structure, in the contractor's opinion, completely unsafe and at a high (and unacceptable risk) of collapse.
“The council officers had left the land and a quick decision had to be made.
“The situation on the land was such that, due to the amount of media attention and public attendance, a decision had to be taken quickly as to the immediate safety of the building.
“A decision was made with reference to the director of the appellant that in order to abate the risk, the mainstay of the remaining structure needed to be taken down.
“It was considered that there was a high risk of the building collapsing and causing serious injury or a fatality on the land given the entry on to the land by large numbers of people some of whom were conducting vigils and others removing bricks and other items as memorabilia/ for sale.”
More than 35,000 people threw their support behind a campaign to see the pub rebuilt.
Staffordshire Police is treating the blaze as arson.
Five men and one woman were arrested in connection with the fire and remain on bail.