17-March-2007 Country week - Royal assent for pubs campaign
Five years ago, Prince Charles launched the Pub Is The Hub campaign. Chris Berry went to Clarence House to hear the Prince's progress report, and right, visited a village trying to save its pub.
EVERY week three rural pubs close in England and the country way of life in each area loses yet another important facility.
Within the last month three that I know of have closed just in Yorkshire (including the Burton Arms on these pages), and there are many more that will have closed.
The reasons for closure may be many and varied but the vital role that the village pub plays in the fabric of rural life was given even greater credence last week when Prince Charles hosted a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Pub is the hub initiative.
He told guests, including myself and several Yorkshire pub owners and brewery owners why he feels it is so important:
"I'd heard about the problems facing rural pubs, in particular the numbers that were being shut down all round the country, about six years ago. I visited a brewery in St Austell in Cornwall and in my little speech at the end I happened to say that what we really needed to do was to make the pub the hub (of the community). It was then picked up by a tabloid newspaper, and the whole exercise and campaign was born. I felt then and still do that rural communities face unprecedented changes and challenges, and the local pub that has been part of village life for centuries is under particular threat. It can play such an important role in preserving those essential services that so many people find are absolutely crucial."
Prince Charles appeared delighted with the progress that Pub is the Hub has made in its first five years, but was quick to also point out that there was still a long way to go. Red tape and cumbersome rules came in for a sharp word along the way.
"Now, instead of six rural pubs closing each week we have three a week. 1 understand the situation is even worse in urban areas with 10 closing every week. The objective of the campaign is that, with some encouragement, a new sense of rural enterprise can be created which might begin to impact on this problem. It seems to me that we need above all to liberate the determination that exists in so many communities around the country to find new ways, new innovative and imaginative ways, to maintain services and help overcome the hurdles of bureaucracy, complicated regulations or the lack of seed corn funding.
"That's why as President of Business in the Community I launched the PUB is the HUB initiative back in 2001 as part of our overall rural action campaign."
While not giving his own political viewpoint over what is happening to rural services, Prince Charles pointed to both the role of the Post Office and community funding as ways in which village pubs' futures could be enhanced. There was no mention of the part the Government might play in any of the initiatives.
"The Post Office have been incredibly helpful right from the start. With all the uncertainties that now exist around the rural post office network, the Pub is the Hub initiative and the Post Office's support for it couldn't be more important. If the villages that were about to lose a post office could instead see it incorporated into the local pub then it could perhaps make the whole difference.
"Some of you may have heard that some communities have saved their pubs by buying them, and I'm very pleased to say that here today we have 18 of these pioneering pubs and their feat of organisation and community effort is truly remarkable."
Edging towards criticism of the Government's rural policy, but just about steering clear, Prince Charles outlined his own feelings over what is happening to rural communities and what needs to be done. He didn't say the balance was wrong, he simply stated his position.
"The difficulty I always think in life is how you balance the need for efficiency with the need for the human and social dimension. That balance is absolutely crucial in binding rural communities together and making them as unique as they are in this country."
Prince Charles also reserved a special commendation for Harrogate-based John Longden who is the coordinator of Pub is the Hub. "If someone had told me that five years on we would have nearly 300 projects in the Pub is the Hub family, including over 100 post offices, 80 shops and 30 computer training centres, let alone 18 community-owned pubs I simply would never have believed them. The fact that we do is largely due to one man, John Longden, who understood immediately what I was trying to do."
On a lighter note Prince Charles pointed to a pub game that he has recently taken to - though not as well as some in his family. "Village pub closures seem to be threatening the future of pub darts, which is rather worrying. I was given these darts the other day and I'm getting rather good, except my youngest son is a great deal better than I am. I'll leave you to guess why."