By Jenni Davidson
A popular Brighton pub has been saved from redevelopment into flats.
The London Unity in Islingword Road, Brighton, has reopened under new management and is holding its launch event this Friday (7 June).
The Hanover pub was expected to close for good when the previous landlord, Alan Leach, left at the beginning of May.
A Twitter campaign was set up to save The London Unity and campaigners attempted unsuccessfully to take over the lease.
Pub company Enterprise Inns, which owns the building, put it up for sale earlier this year.
It was thought that it might be bought by a property developer and turned into housing.
The London Unity reopened quietly on Friday 10 May under new management and has been working to regain its clientele.
New manager Paolo Suarez says he plans to keep the pub much as it is.
“It’s got a lot of character,” said Suarez. “I didn’t want to change anything.”
The pub will still serve the curries and Sunday roasts that it is known for and has already restarted its live music nights.
However, Suarez recognises that there are a lot of competing pubs within a small area and that he needs to make some changes to keep The London Unity different.
His plans include extending the wine list and serving cocktails, which he says will suit the “trendy” area.
The London Unity is the second Enterprise Inns pub in Hanover to be under threat in recent months.
The Greys, on nearby Southover Street, almost closed in October 2012.
It was saved at the last minute by new management, but has recently changed hands again.
Since your article a Planning Application has now been submitted to convert the Unity pub into 2 houses – one 2 bed and one 3 bed.
The application went in on 5th September and the council planning notice outside was quickly removed (it is meant to stay up for 3 weeks).
And of course, in classic developer style the 3 bed has a large separate “dressing room” on the 1st floor – clearly the 4th bedroom.. Why else would one have a large 1st floor dressing room and have the other 2 bedrooms in the pub cellar….!!
The application number is BH2013/02995 . If you want to see the plans or submit a comment that will be considered by the planning officer, you can do it online, or by post. The online link is http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/planning/planning-applications