LOCALS living next door to a dilapidated Wetherspoons have slammed the pub giant for letting it become an “eyesore”.
Two four-storey blocks overlook the crumbling former Grape and Grain pub in Crystal Palace, south London.
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And those living inside Stratos Heights have put up with the “ugly” empty building for as long as they can remember.
Vanessa, 34, who didn’t want to give her surname, said the old pub is a “complete eyesore”, describing the ruined building as “gross”.
She added: “We’ve been here two years and the pub has been there derelict the entire time. It’s gross, a complete eyesore. It’s not nice to look out at.
“It blocks the entire view out our window. It’s ugly.”
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The pub, once a popular music venue boasting a dance hall, shuttered in November 2017 when it was bought up by Wetherspoons.
GRAND PLANS
The popular pub giant had grand plans to extend the building up by two storeys, building a glamorous roof terrace overlooking the park.
An application was approved by Bromley Council in May 2019, but the project was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Building work never began.
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Now the pub boasts crumbling paintwork and a six-foot graffiti-spattered security fence – keeping out intruders.
Wetherspoons takes its security seriously, with a towering CCTV camera facing out onto the busy street below.
And locals are worried about what could happen next.
Vanessa added: “I’m really concerned with who’s going to buy it and how loud it’ll be. We already get quite a lot of noise from other pubs nearby. If it reopens as a pub it’ll be pretty grim.”
I went to the best rated Wetherspoons in the UK and the venue was insane but the food prices left me gutted
Wetherspoons has begun repair works to fix the roof, she revealed.
“Since they decided to sell it they’ve replaced the flat roof out the back. It was redone around two months ago.
“There were holes in it before. They’re fixing it up to sell it. It sounded like there were workers out there again yesterday.”
Her neighbour Jenny, 34, claimed construction workers had started from 7am some mornings.
She said: “It’s been disruptive. It’s nice that it’s closed because it means it’s so quiet. We’re worried in terms of what it’s going to become.”
Jenny told how the towering pub already leaves her flat “in the dark” and said adding any more storeys would be a disaster.
“If it’s quiet in the evenings that’s great,” she said. “We don’t want them to build up more floors on top of what’s there – our flats are already too dark because of it. We’re just waiting to see now.
“I do think the building is blocking a lot of the noise from the road. It’s fine as it is as long as it doesn’t go any higher.”
The pub is so ugly
Ana Timoteo
Another local, Ana Timoteo, 33, a public sector worker, told how the rest of the area is “lovely” but ruined by the closed-down pub.
She added: “I lived here in 2016 when the pub was still open. We hoped it would turn into something but it just looks like such an ugly building. The area as a whole is so lovely, full of independent shops.
“The pub is just so ugly. There is a lot of competition here for shops so whoever does have a business here may struggle. They should do something with the building.”
Marie-Pierre Demaro, 59, former French teacher, said: “I walk by it all the time. I only live down the road. It’s been neglected for a while now and is going to ruin. It’s in a state of disrepair and no one knows what’s going on.”
WHICH WETHERSPOONS PUBS ARE UP FOR SALE?
Some 17 other Wetherspoons are currently up for sale:
Here’s the full list:
- The Pontlottyn, Abertillery
- The Ivor Davies, Cardiff
- Spa Lane Vaults, Chesterfield
- The Gate House, Doncaster
- The Market Cross, Holywell
- The Regent, Kirkby in Ashfield
- The Mockbeggar Hall, Moreton
- The Hain Line, St Ives
- The Sir Norman Rae, Shipley
- The Sir Daniel Arms, Swindon
- The White Hart, Todmorden
- Lord Arthur Lee, Fareham
- The Plough and Harrow, London
- Resolution, Middlesbrough
- Sennockian, Sevenoaks
- The Rochester Castle, London
- Foot of the Walk, Edinburgh
- The Quay, Poole
Mum-of-two Catalina Gabriel, 37, told how the particular corner of shops opposite the shuttered pub struggle to keep business.
She said: “It’s such an eyesore. I think for some reason on that side of the road none of the shops seem to last very long.
“There’s one shop on the corner that I’ve never seen open. Otherwise it’s a lovely high street.”
Retired Sheila Tuke, 72, said: “We used to go in there and it was really nice but they closed it. It’s such a shame it’s in the state it is. It doesn’t look good. It’s boarded off. I don’t see why someone wouldn’t buy it. Any pub that shuts is a shame.”
Retail worker Ray Ellis, 38, added: “It’s a sore sight for sure. It’s been like that for years.”
It comes as Wetherspoons closes down a number of branches.
And pint prices at Wetherspoons has hit a whopping £7.30 in London after the budget chain hiked prices for the second time in just six months.
A Wetherspoons spokesman said: “A number of schemes were worked up previously and planning was obtained around five years ago.
“The scheme that we were being asked to develop, which had to link in with the local street scape, was considered too expensive for Wetherspoons.
“In the end we said that this site wasn’t commercially viable for the company.
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“The property is still for sale.”
The Sun has approached Bromley Council for comment.
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