IN AN age when life seems to become ever more globalised, the notion of local has never been more important. And you don’t get more local than your local.

While pubs have to adapt to changing tastes and habits, and many may not survive, all pubs deserve a fair chance. This is why The Press launched its Be Vocal For Your Local campaign.

One of the main aims of this initiative is that pubs under threat of being turned into a mini-supermarket or other business should be given a degree of protection which our planning laws do not at present provide.

We are not saying that a pub should never be allowed to fail. But we are saying that the rules should play fair.

At present companies do not have to apply for permission to convert a pub into, say, a convenience store. This is why the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) is striving to secure what is known as an “Article 4 direction” that would required planning permission to be obtained before a pub was changed into another business.

This would prevent pubs being lost in the blink of an eye, and would give locals a chance to rally to the cause of their favourite pub.

Our campaign is moving closer to success because the matter will now be debated in Parliament on Monday. Nick Love, of York’s CAMRA branch, calls on everyone concerned to lobby their MP to support the motion in Parliament.

Pubs are still an important part of their community, places in which to meet, drink, relax and share in life’s important small pleasures. They are too important to be lost for another mini-supermarket.