The Blundell Arms was popular family pub in Birkdale. It had looked set to be given a new lease of life as a ‘Community Pub’ under the government’s More Than A Pub programme.
The pub has been bought by developers who plan to demolish the site but not before local residents have been consulted on the plan.
A local community group continue to campaign to reopen of the Blundell Arms under community ownership. The group planned a major refurbishment of the property in Upper Aughton Road. Jason McCormack a member of the group who lives near the pub said “We’replanning to use the venue as a Dementia Café during the daytime and have a wheelchair accessible farm garden. It willstill be a traditional pub in the afternoon and evenings but with new attractions such as ‘distil your own gin’ days and regular pop–up markets in the community rooms upstairs.
The new owners have contacted the community group and are open to offers for the pub. The community group have prepared a bid but still plan to oppose any plans to demolish.
Jason said “The new owners said that we can buy the pub from them at a premium price. We feel that we can get a fairer price for the pub if it remains a pub. The pub is listed as an Asset of Community Value and that provides material evidence of the pub’s value to the community. This is a chance to revitalise the Upper Aughton Road area of Birkdale. Our project will create jobs for people of all ages and abilities, help reduce social isolation and improve social cohesion.”
The group will share their plans at a public meeting this Friday at the Con Club in Birkdale. The meeting starts at 7pm and will last around an hour. There are guest speakers including an Admiral Nurse, a Surveyor, an expert on community projects and John Wright, the Liberal Democrats’ Parliamentary Candidate for Southport.
Everyone who attends will be entered into a free raffle for a bottle of Save The Blundell Arms Gin produced locally by Birkdale Kraft Distillery.
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