Scaffolding on a pub whose distinctive green tiles were ripped off by its new owner is being taken down today following a visit from a planning inspector.
Workers at the Montreal Pub said owner Charlie Southall told them to take it down today because its licence ran out today and was not being renewed.
They said it could be put back up at a later date.
Brighton and Hove News understands a planning inspector, who is deciding Mr Southall’s appeal against an enforcement notice requiring the restoration of the tiles, visited on Wednesday.
After an inspector’s visit, decisions are sometimes issued within days, but sometimes take months.
Charlie Southall hired a team of builders to tear down the green tiles from the exterior walls of the Montreal Arms in Albion Hill on March 29, 2022.
Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas joined a huge outcry at the damage, describing it as “utter vandalism”, and by 4pm that day, the council had issued a notice requiring him to stop.
An enforcement notice requiring him to replace the tiles like for like was subsequently issued – but is currently on hold pending his appeal.
The appeal to Brighton and Hove City Council’s enforcement notice was made by Mr Southall’s company Dragonfly Architectural Services Ltd on 22 June last year, submitted by his planning agent Connor McCarron.
Final comments were due on 12 September, and a decision date has yet to be set.
Before the deadline for comments, posters were put up on the pub itself, and leaflets through people’s door asking people to support the appeal.
They said the tiled frontage had been damaged before Mr Southall bought the pub in March last year, for £420,000.
It also said Mr Southall had been subjected to “harassment, intimidation and abuse,” and that he wants to retile the pub, but not with like for like tiles.
It also asked the community for ideas for the pub’s future, including reopening it as a pub, cafe or yoga studio, or converting it into a townhouse.
After he bought it, Mr Southall said he wanted to run it as a refuge for Ukranian women and children, and launched a crowdfunder to cover the conversion costs.
But he abandoned his plans after neighbours questioned his motives, pointing out that a change of use would greatly increase the value of the building.
Recently adopted planning rules now state that anyone wanting to convert a pub in Brighton and Hove must put it on the market for sale or to let at a reasonable market rent with no offers for two years before change of use is granted.
“or converting it into a townhouse”
I wonder which the property developer would prefer? What a completely devious vile man.
Looking to profit under the guise of helping refugees, which it became obvious was never his intention, then damaging the building to spite the people that saw through his ruse.
Dishonest and nasty little fella.
I hope he goes bankrupt.
After he’s rebuilt the pub.
The bloke really is a wolf in sheep’s clothing asking people for their ideas… We know the plan, it’s HMO and make as much money as possible. Put the tiles back as they were, nasty little man.
Someone register it as an Asset of Community Value, that’ll limit what can be done with the place.
Can you back that up with facts ?
About ACV registration? Yeah, BHCC website details the process quite comprehensively.
No the first comment
All these comments about him perhaps you shouldn’t read what people write about him. If you understood the facts and not what you read you would have a different opinion about him
On the contrary. I’ve done business with Mr Southall in the past and he really is an unsavoury, dishonest, disloyal, lying, cheating, two-faced, backstabbing $cumb@g. In fact, he’s so full of $h!t, he should’ve been a politician.
Firstly we all know you haven’t done any business with him and obviously don’t know him. Secondly if everyone knew the ruined state the building was in prior to the work that was started you would realise that it needs renovating, my auntie used to run the pub and if all these people who have strong opinions about the building now would of cared as much when it was open perhaps it would still be a pub.
Oh yes I have done business with him and I stand by what I said. I had to commence legal proceedings against him and even then he thought he could bully me into dropping my claim against him. He finally coughed up 24hrs before we were due in court.
If your ‘Auntie’ had run a successful pub it wouldn’t have failed. The idea that patrons should support a business that has nothing to offer them is as ridiculous as your charade, Mr Realistic!
Nice try Mr Southall..
I can’t sell my house because of this utter selfish charlatan and soon I will be bankrupt. Maybe I should do a crowdfunding project to finance the £75k drop in my house price since he moved in?? You are an outrage and every bit of harassment and intimidation you are getting, you deserve.
Fact, for nearly two decades I’ve walked past this interesting structure until some random from out of town had builders smash them off with a hammer for no apparent reason. Pure destruction of heritage.
This random structure is rotten and is falling down
Yes I’m sure removing tiles did a lot to help that
Don’t know anything about the owner but green tiles, they sound historic and interesting and whoever removed them probably just is a money grabbing capitalist with zero respect for the environment.
The green tiles were cracked, damaged and needed replacing, also then steel lintels where rotten
All cosmetic, lintels easily replaced. The shitty pub company who owned it wanted it delicensed and sold to a developer. It’s what they do when they can’t get the overpriced everything they charge to satisfy share holders.
If you look at the initial photos taken as they where being smashed you could see they were fine, if you look at the actual tiles in the sunlight they are oil and led based, as he’s taken the corners off these are all hand made, I believe a cost of £100,000 should be about right!
My Nan and grandad lived 2 doors down from the pub was lovely looking building ,bodge up builders should never be allowed to work on nice buildings like that …disgraceful