DARK STAR BREWING COMPANY LETTER TO TESCO

That this House welcomes the letter sent by Dark Star Brewing Company to Tesco about some of the 43 stores Tesco is looking to close this year, offering to buy back some of them, and that they could be converted back into pubs; condemns the weak planning system currently in place which allows predatory purchasing of pubs and converting them into supermarkets without needing planning permission; notes the results of the research carried out by the Campaign for Real Ale that found supermarkets were responsible for two out of 31 pub closures per week between 2012 to 2014 in order to create more stores; believes that local communities, entrepreneurs, smaller breweries, and small pub companies should be allowed a say in seeking to protect much-valued local pubs; and supports the Pubs Matter campaign in its call to the Government to make the simple amendment to the General Permitted Development Order 1995 so that planning permission and consent from the local community is always required before any pubs can be demolished or converted in the future.