6:50am Saturday 4th September 2010
By Richard Catton
AN EMPTY Acomb pub is once again at the centre of a plea to return it to community use amidst fears of the property falling victim to arsonists.
A former landlady of the White Rose pub in Cornlands Road described the building as an “eyesore” and said its appearance would put people off moving to the area.
Barbara Anderson took over the running of the pub 11 years ago and stayed for four-and-a-half years.
She said during that time the pub had been full of customers and believes it could be again.
Last month The Press reported how the pub had fallen prey to vandals who had smashed windows, attempted to steal lead from the roof and broken a boiler.
Mrs Anderson, 56, said: “I looked through the windows last night and I know kids have been in because I saw smashed tables.
“Are the owners just waiting for some of the bored youngsters to burn it to the ground because that is what will happen next?
“Eyesores like this attract the bored youngsters from all areas to it. I know myself, I used to love to go into derelict houses when I was younger, just to see how other people lived. The only difference was that in my day we didn’t add to the dereliction.
“Nowadays, it’s fun for these kids to make the things worse. It’s degrading for the residents of the Acomb area to have to put up with this eyesore.
“Anyone new coming into Acomb from the Cornlands Road area would certainly be put off wanting to take up residence here once they see the White Rose in the state of disrepair that it is in now.”
She believed anyone who bought the pub outright as a free house would be able to run a profitable business.
The former owners of the pub, Admiral Taverns, said they had put the pub up for sale last October because it did not fit with its portfolio. They said the pub had been sold but were unable to say who the new owner was due to legal reasons.
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