DROITWICH MP Sir Peter Luff has welcomed plans to give local people more say over the future of their pubs.

There was anger in Fernhill Heath at the end of last year when Wychavon District Council was left powerless to stop a change of use for the Halfway House from a pub to a convenience store.

Sir Peter urged local people to use new powers announced by the planning minister Stephen Williams, to protect their pubs.

The new powers, which are an extension to the 2011 Localism Act, mean that people can register local pubs as community assets.

Sir Peter said: “There is protection in the national planning policy framework and in the Localism Act 2011, enabling people to list an asset as one of community value. The most popular use of this asset of community value legislation is for public houses.

“The government will now increase these powers in respect of pubs by building on exiting protections to help communities preserve those pubs that benefit the community the most.

“Listing a pub as an asset of community value already gives the community a chance to gain ownership of that pub and secures the full protection of the planning system. More than 1,800 sites have been listed in this way, over 600 of which have been pubs, making them by far the most popular type of asset to be listed.

“The government will now remove the permitted development right that allows for the change of use from pubs to shops, financial and professional services, and restaurants and cafes or for the demolition of any pubs as long as they are listed as assets of community value.

“This will mean that, for these pubs, a planning application must be made to a local planning authority before a change of use or demolition of a pub can take place. This gives the decision back to the council representing the local community.

“This change comes too late for the Halfway House, but I hope every parish council in mid Worcestershire will now take a look at their local pubs and if all or any of them are important to the community they serve, as I know most are, register them as community assets.”