Less than a month to save the The Blundell Arms

A COMMUNITY has less than a month to save a Birkdale pub that once turned Paul Simon away for “not being good enough”.

Developers have submitted plans to demolish The Blundell Arms, on Upper Aughton Road, to free up land to build eight new houses.

The pub was home to the The Bothy Folk Song Club for 38 years and in its prime hosted some of the biggest names in music.

Clive Pownceby, who compiled the group’s memories for its 50th anniversary four years ago, said: “We may be famous as the club that turned Paul Simon away for not being up to much (a bit exaggerated that one, but not entirely without foundation!) but we have employed

Barbara Dickson on occasion and if she’d like to come back for £18 again, she’s very welcome!”

Careworker Jason McCormack, who launched a campaign group to save the historic venue, is now calling on Sefton Council to use a change in the law to bring the pub back into use as a community hub.

Father-of-two Mr McCormack, who lives on Everton Road, wants the ‘Dell, as it is known by residents, to be “More than a Pub” and his plans include hosting a cafe for people with dementia, a wheelchair accessible farm garden, a community, business and learning centre

providing community IT training and resources, a microbrewery, a gin distillery, a children’s play area and a community radio station.

He said: “In 2017, the law was changed to protect pubs for communities. Sefton Council has the power to stop the Blundell Arms from being demolished.

“It’s a simple choice between eight new houses or a thriving and viable community pub.

“We aim to reduce loneliness and improve social cohesion in an area sorely lacking a community hub.

“The Blundell Arms has been a big part of my life for 40 years, ever since I moved to the area as a child. Now I live on Everton Road with my wife and our two boys. I believe the Blundell Arms pub can play a beneficial part in their life much as it did in mine.

“Back in the 80s Tuesday night was computer club. I learned to various programme computers and play the latest games with my mates. No online friends then. I had a 20-year career in IT working for Merseyside Police thanks to the people I met at Computer Club.

“We weren’t old enough to go into the pub alone. We weren’t old enough to go into town alone. The pub was the centre of our world. The car park was our patch. We played football outside during the World Cup.

We played Tennis during Wimbledon. Ran races during the Olympics. I got so many scraped knees there.

“My Dad died just before I turned 18. We had his wake in the pub. He’d taught me how to behave as a child when I was in a pub and how to behave as a young adult when sneaking a pint of shandy he’d bought for himself. As an adult it was the locals who taught me how to behave when under the influence of the demon drink.

“There was a band on every Sunday. Not every one was a good one. Paul Simon and Barbara Dicksonboth allegedly appeared at the Bothy Folk

Club before my time. There were some good bands who never made it, some local lads who used the function room for band practice and some touring acts.

“I know the pub lost its way towards the end. It could be rowdy. It could be noisy. It had a terrible reputation and at times it deserved that reputation.

“I started the Dell Preservation campaign after my brother and his girlfriend were attacked by kids on bikes as they walked home one night. Their attackers hit hem with wood from the broken pub benches.

My brother managed to fend them off enough for his girlfriend to run to our house for help.

“I had just left my job with Merseyside Police heading for a job as a Community Support Worker. I began to think that attack would not have happened with a brightly lit pub on the corner. A pub with a decent number of respectable adults coming and going to ensure the safety of passers by day or night.

“I still took my kids in when they were toddlers dressed as Batman and Superman. it wasn’t all bad and it’s the good bits we need to bring back.

“It will be a quiet pub and community centre during the day. Somewhere for local people to spend time in an increasingly lonely world. Free tea and coffee because some people don’t have much to spend.

“The rooms upstairs will be a place to learn new skills, use community computers, meet for business or pleasure, set up yoga classes or rent a market stall. Then at night we can turn the upstairs rooms into

bedrooms for rough sleepers if the community is supportive.”

Mr McCormack is also calling on members of the public to buy into his dream by becoming shareholders in his vision for just £250.

He said: “Planning law is on our side. Pubs are protected in the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017.  The government supports community pubs financially. We’ve been promised £100,000 grant and loan money ifdo buy the pub.

“If you ‘lend the community’ £250 for three years. The government will give you £75 off your income tax bill on 1st April 2019. That’s £75 plus your £250 in just three years.

“It’s called Social Investment Tax Relief. Think of it like Gift Aid. For every £250 share we ‘sell’, Crowdfunder will gift us another £250 share.

“In addition, Pubs like the Blundell Arms can benefit from upto £100k funding from the Government’s More Than A Pub programme.

“If we can get as few as 400 local people to ‘lend the community’ £250 for three years then we can raise £300,000 to purchase, renovate, reopen, stock and staff the Blundell Arms.

“Every shareholder gets an equal say in how the pub is run. Every share entitles the holder to an equal share of half of any profits once every three years.

“The other half of any profit must be spent on the upkeep of the building.”

For more information or to join the campaign email jasonmccormackict@gmail.com.