Minister Agrees to Look into Greyhound Inn Closure

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood raised the threatened closure of the Greyhound pub in Whaddon at a crisis summit between MPs and ministers in parliament yesterday. Local government minister John Healey agreed to look into the case personally.

The meeting, organised by the all-party Beer group and backed by the new all-party Save the Pub group, was packed with hundreds of parliamentarians and campaigners and saw MPs and peers queuing in the corridors of Westminster to get in. The meeting was addressed by the Campaign for Real Ale and representatives of breweries and rural communities as well as ministers and MPs from across the country.

Martin told the meeting about the decision to save the Greyhound taken by Cheltenham Borough Council which was then overturned by a government inspector. He called for an urgent change in planning law to prevent the loss of popular viable pubs like the Greyhound. The minister unexpectedly agreed to look into the case personally. 'It was good to see such huge opposition to the loss of good local pubs all over the country' commented Martin 'I was surprised by the minister's promise to look into our case in particular and I wouldn't want to get anyone's hopes up too high but this is definitely an interesting development and if it highlights what an appalling decision has been taken in this case, that can't hurt. We certainly haven't saved the Greyhound at the moment but I am keeping up the fight.'