Save the Glamorgan Pub

14/01/2026

Councillor Sean Fitzsimons attended the Planning Appeal Hearing on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at the Town Hall, to advocate for the preservation of the Glamorgan Pub. This historic establishment, located at 81 Cherry Orchard Road, is under threat from a development proposal that seeks to demolish it and replace it with a 7-storey block of flats. The appeal heard evidence from both the developers and Croydon Council officers, all being evaluated by an independent Planning Inspector.

Attach are photos of the Agenda that show which issues were discussed at the appeal.

Councillor Fitzsimons expressed his strong support for Croydon Council’s original decision to refuse the application, highlighting the cultural significance of the Glamorgan Pub to the community, and expressing concerns that the proposed 7-storey block of flats was out of keeping with the character of adjoining 2-storey terrace housing.

Sean said "Protecting our heritage is vital for maintaining the character of our neighborhood. This site is outside the zone for tall buildings, and will tower over the low rise buildings next door"

More details about the planning appeal, including the appeal documents can be found on Croydon Council's Planning Portal using the planning reference: 23/04106/FUL
"23/04106/FUL | Demolition of existing public house building, construction of a new 7 storey building with roof terrace level and basement to re-provide a public house (Sui Generis) together with 19 flats with associated access, amenity space, and landscaping works. | The Glamorgan 81 Cherry Orchard Road Croydon CR0 6BE" https://publicaccess3.croydon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=S3CKXAJLG7L00&activeTab=summary

07/11/2025

Tell the planning inspector, "No to the demolition of the Glamorgan Public House"
Deadline to respond with Comments is Monday 10th November 2025.
The "Save the Glamorgan Campaign" calls on the local community of Addiscombe and East Croydon to tell the planning inspector that we don't want our historic community public house destroyed, and replaced with a seven-story block of flats, and an insufficient footprint of a much smaller Public House.

Ron Appleby, resident and Chair of the Campaign, says, " We continue to have to fight hard to preserve the building that was once the much-loved community pub, The Glamorgan. The freehold owners, Butlers Walsall Ltd., have now lodged an appeal against Croydon Council’s rejection of their last wholly unsuitable development application, but without addressing the issue of there being no replacement in it for a decent-sized pub. The proposed bar (you could not call it a pub) in their plans is a cynical “designed to fail” affair, without any of the attractions that made The Glamorgan such a decent local, regularly frequented by many nearby residents as well as office workers from around the station. Obviously, they intend to close this new “bar” as soon as they can, claiming it is unviable in today’s market, and convert the ground floor to yet more flats to add to the 8 stories of flats (24 of them) above it. We all now have to add our objections to upholding the appeal THIS WEEK, so that the Planning Inspectorate takes the needs of the local community into full account when considering the appeal. Otherwise, the Glamorgan will be demolished and lost for good.”

The owner of the Glamorgan Public House has submitted a new planning appeal to overturn the council's April 2025 refusal of their 23/04106/FUL: "Demolition of existing public house building, construction of a new 7 storey building with roof terrace level and basement to re-provide a public house (Sui Generis) together with 19 flats with associated access, amenity space, and landscaping works".

The planning application, ref 23/04106/FUL, was refused by Croydon Council planners on 2nd April 2025 on several grounds. Objectors should bear these in mind when writing to the planning inspector. The Save the Glamorgan is asking objectors to state that they support these refusal grounds:
• We support the decision of Croydon Council's planners to refuse to grant planning permission.
• "The proposed development would be excessively tall, bulky, and out of scale, making it dominant and incongruous with the surrounding area. Its design, materials, and façade would fail to integrate successfully with the local townscape, while the layout, including undercroft features and fragmented windows, would lack cohesion and sufficient design quality. This would harm the area's character and appearance, conflicting with Policies D3, D4, and D6 of the London Plan (2021) and Policy DM10 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018)
• The proposed development would not provide an adequate standard of residential accommodation due to insufficient private amenity space, poor accessibility, and the absence of a noise assessment to evaluate road and railway impacts, as well as an assessment of the noise associated with the proposed public house use. This would conflict with Policies D6 and D7 of the London Plan (2021) and Policy DM10 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018).
• The proposed development, by virtue of its excessive height, scale, and proximity to neighbouring properties, would result in a building with an overbearing impact, causing a loss of outlook, daylight, and sunlight for adjacent residents. In the absence of a development-specific daylight and sunlight assessment, the extent of harm has not been fully assessed, contrary to Policy D6 of the London Plan (2021) and Policy DM10.6 of the Croydon Local Plan (2018).

The Save the Glamorgan Campaign also ask objectors to make the following points to the planning inspector:
1) The local community has fought for over eight years to keep the current building as a Public House. The building, which is over 160 years old, was a key community hub for both local residents and visitors.
2) The community successfully listed the building as an asset of community value, as it was able to demonstrate to the council that it was more than just a drinking establishment, but played a key role in the local community.
3) The building is in poor condition because of the failure of the applicants to take practical actions against squatters, who have vandalised the building over the last 7 years, and only evicted them in 2024.
4) Lack of Community Consultation: The applicant has stopped communicating with residents and campaigners.
5) Inadequate reprovision of the Glamorgan Public House, which threatens the viability of the premises. The floor area is too small compared to the existing building; the kitchen and ancillary facilities are inadequate; and the public space, both internally and externally, is significantly reduced.
6) Lack of submitted drawings and information concerning the space provided for the replacement public house.
Planning Appeal Reference: APP/L5240/W/25/3373162

To make a comment to the Planning Inspectorate you have to use their online appeals service. You can find the service through the Appeals area of the Planning Portal - see https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk, the reference you need to add to the portal website is 3373162.
You can also write directly to Pauline Dun - Case Officer, quoting the appeal reference number APP/L5240/W/25/3373162. Please make sure that the Planning Inspectorate receives any comments that you want to make on the appeals by 10th November 2025, otherwise, they will not usually be seen by the Inspector and will be returned.

Background on the Save the Glamorgan Campaign: In 2017, in response to previous attempts by the owner to demolish the pub, the local community, with the support of local councillors, established the Save the Glamorgan Pub campaign, which remains active to this day. The campaign successfully got the Council to list the building as an Asset Of Community Value. Sadly, it lapsed after five years as the developer didn't meaningfully engage with the local community and set an unrealistically high price of over £2 million for the public house. A building that has suffered significant damage due to the squatters, who have occupied the building for over five years, seemingly with the owners' permission.

The Glamorgan Public House was a thriving community Public House before it was bought and closed down by the current applicants. Since its closure, the area around the Public has seen the construction of many new housing developments, with over 1,000 homes built in the last five years in Addiscombe West Ward alone, and thousands more across East Croydon. The population of East Croydon is growing, and the area desperately needs to maintain its key community anchor points, such as the Glamorgan. Saving the Glamorgan from demolition will help knit together this growing new community.

Contact Details:
Ron Appleby: Chair of the Save the Glamorgan Campaign
Sean Fitzsimons, Councillor and Campaign Lead: [email protected] Telephone 0778 711 7542

05/11/2024

Oppose the Demolition of the Glamorgan Public House and the building of an eight-storey residential block of flats.
Support the Campaign to restore the Glamorgan as a thriving community Public House.
The Save the Glamorgan campaign members passed a resolution opposing the demolition at its AGM on 23 October 2024 at Croydon Town Hall.
We oppose the demolition of the Glamorgan Public House, a cherished community pub since it opened as the Horse and Groom in 1855. We remind ourselves that the owner of the Glamorgan closed his door to the community seven years ago. He has
just applied to Croydon Council for permission to demolish the Pub. He relies on the fact that the Pub has fallen into a dilapidated state and should have mentioned that, as the owner, he failed to safely secure the premises over the seven years he has owned the building. He must take responsibility for repairing it, not use the neglect as an opportunity to demolish it.
We also oppose the owner's application to build an eight-storey block of flats on the site. This will overshadow Ark Oval School, which is opposite the eastern elevation. It will be over twice the height of Georgian Court, opposite the southern elevation. It
will completely overshadow the adjacent terrace of 2-storey houses on Cross Road.
This application contains a vague outline that purports to provide a pub on the ground floor. We doubt whether this vague outline would lead to the provision of an economically viable pub and fear that it is merely a hollow proposal, doomed to fail and concluding with the developer seizing the opportunity to install ground-floor apartments rather than a pub.
In response to a Council question tabled by Councillor Sean Fitzsimons at the Council meeting on 14 December 2022, Mayor Perry agreed to support reopening the Glamorgan pub;. We call upon the Mayor to put his words into action and help our Campaign to protect local pubs from rapacious developers.
We call upon planning officers and members of the Planning Committee to uphold the Council's policy as set out in its local plan to save pubs and, therefore, refuse the applications to demolish the current Pub and to build an eight-storey block on the site.
Comment from Ron Appleby, the Chair of the Save the Glamorgan Campaign:
"The owner of the Glamorgan has tolerated the presence of squatters in his Pub for seven years. He has idly allowed the Pub& #39;s fabric to crumble. And now he has the nerve to use his neglect as his pretext for demolishing the Pub. There has been a pub on this site continuously for nearly 200 years. When the
The current owner closed its doors. It was a popular community pub with a good restaurant. It is in an increasingly densely populated area of East Croydon, where successive councils have failed to invest in social capital. The area cannot afford to lose another popular community facility in favour of more high-rise apartments.

History of the Glamorgan since 2016
The owner of the Glamorgan House has made no secret that he wants to replace this 150-year-old Public House with a residential block of flats. He closed this thriving Public House when he bought it in 2016 and tried to demolish it immediately. Local Councillors and the Save the Glamorgan Campaign persuaded Croydon Council to stop this happening. Since then, the owner allowed squatters in the building, who gradually destroyed many of the original fittings and, more recently, have been a source of anti-social behaviour and drug dealing in the area.
19/05926/FUI In 2019, the owner applied to demolish the Public House and replace it with a ten-storey block of flats with a tiny replacement bar on the ground floor. This application was withdrawn after the Mayor of London and Croydon Council indicated that it wasn't planning policy compliant.
In 2023, the owner submitted a second planning application, 23/04106/FUL, which is still live and has yet to go to the planning committee. The owner still wants to build an eight-storey block of flats with an inadequate-sized public bar on the ground floor.
The Save the Glamorgan campaign and Local Councillors, Sean Fitzsimons and Patricia Hay-Justice, have opposed this application.

In September 2024, Croydon Council imposed a closure order on the Pub, and the squatters have been removed. The owner's response is to apply for planning permission 24/03463/FUL on the
grounds to make good the site, the er****on of safety hoarding to secure the site and prevent access by the public. It is a liberty that the person who allowed the destruction of much of the
building and caused harm to the local community for failing to secure the site, despite repeated requests from councillors and the community, now seeks to profit from his inaction by getting our local Pub knocked down, which allows him to benefit significantly from building an eight-storey block of flats.

Planning Application 24/03463/FUL | Demolition of the existing public house, making suitable the site, and er****on of safety hoarding to secure the site and prevent access by the public | The Glamorgan 81 Cherry Orchard Road Croydon CR0 6BE

12/02/2024

Feb 2024 Press Release from Save the Glamorgan Campaign
The "Save the Glamorgan Campaign" condemns the actions of the owners of the Glamorgan Public House over their failure to consult the local community over their new planning application, which will see the demolition of the historic Public House and replaced with an eight-story block of flats, and an insufficient footprint of a much smaller Public House.
Ron Appleby, resident and Chair of the Campaign, says, "Butler Wallsall Limited is obliged to consult the local community over major planning applicants like this. Their failure to engage with our group shows their lack of respect for the Addiscombe and East Croydon Communities. As a campaign group, we have always been willing to engage with the developers, and it is disappointing that they have submitted a new application without talking to us and the community first".
The owner of the Glamorgan Public House has submitted a new planning application 23/04106/FUL to demolish the Glamorgan Public House and to build an 8-storey block of flats, with a replacement Public House on part of the ground floor and basement.
Summary of Planning Application 23/04106/FUL: "Demolition of existing Public House building, construction of a new 8-storey building with roof terrace level and basement to re-provide a public house (A4) together with 24 flats with associated access, amenity space, and landscaping works. The Glamorgan 81 Cherry Orchard Road Croydon CR0 6BE".
Previous Application from 2019: The original Application 19/05926/FUL was submitted by the owners in Dec 2019 and proposed a taller building of 10 storeys, with 36 Flats, none affordable, and a minimal footprint for a Public House on part of the ground floor. The owners withdrew the Application in 2021 following concerns raised by the Mayor of London over the lack of affordable housing and by the protests from the local community over the insufficient space allocated to the public house and the excessive height of the building, especially concerning the neighbouring properties on Cross Road and Cherry Orchard Road.
Save the Glamorgan Campaign: In 2017, in response to previous attempts by the owner to demolish the pub, the local community, with the support of local councillors, set up the Save the Glamorgan Pub campaign, and the group still exists. The campaign successfully got the Council to list the building as an Asset Of Community Value. Sadly, it lapsed after five years as the developer didn't meaningfully engage with the local community and set an unrealistically high price of over £2 Million for the public house. A building that has suffered significant damage due to the squatters, who have occupied the building for over five years, seemingly with the owners' permission.
2024 Planning Application 23/04106/FUL: This Application is an improvement over the original 2019 application. However, the campaign still has many concerns, which will be the basis of our objection. Please find more information on how to object on our page SavetheGlam.
1) There is no evidence provided to support the Demolition of the current building
2) Lack of Community Consultation
3) Inadequate reprovision of Glamorgan Public House
4) Lack of submitted drawings and information concerning the public house.
5) Excessive Height of the building to the adjacent terrace properties on Cross Road and Cherry Orchard Road
6) Lack of submitted drawings of sufficient detail to demonstrate good quality architecture, layout and landscaping
7) Concerns about the Character and Appearance of the building
8) Daylight and sunlight concerns
9) Living Conditions of the occupants of neighbouring properties in Cross Road
10) Living conditions of the occupants of the new building, including lack of privacy and the failure to provide dual aspects of residential accommodation
11) Affordable Housing: The Application is missing an affordable housing strategy

How to Object:
Please find more information on our page SavetheGlam. This information will help you put together your objection.
1) By Email: send your comments to [email protected]
2) By Letter: Development Management, 3rd Floor, Zone C Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint Walk, Croydon CR0 1EA
3) Online: You can comment online at the Council's website for Planning Application 23/04106/FUL
Please do not worry about the neighbours' comment deadline. Legally, planners must consider all new comments when deciding on an application, regardless of the date it is received.
If you want to discuss your comments with local councillors first or want to copy them into your objection, please email them via:
• [email protected] or
• Councillor Sean Fitzsimons: [email protected]
• Councillor Patricia Hay-Justice: [email protected]
• Councillor Clive Fraser: [email protected] (Clive is on the planning committee and is not able to comment on the Application, as that would be pre-judging the Application)

12/02/2024

18/10/2023

Our AGM will take place on Wednesday 25th October, 7.30pm at Croydon Town Hall.

The event is open to anyone that would like to attend.

10/02/2023

NOTIFICATION REGARDING DATE OF NEXT "SAVE THE GLAMORGAN" MEETING

Due to delays in preparing the minutes for our last meeting (the AGM in October) and also in updates of the critical action points from that meeting, it has been necessary to postpone the meeting scheduled for Thursday 16th February. As soon as a suitable new date has been agreed we will notify you all.

24/09/2022

SAVE THE DATE - 27th October 2022

Glamorgan AGM

This will be an in person meeting at Croydon Town Hall, Katherine Street, starting at 7pm

Drinks afterwards too 🍺🍺🍺

16/05/2022

SCHEDULED MEETING OF "SAVE THE GLAMORGAN" ON THURS 19 MAY POSTPONED UNTIL SEPTEMBER

The next meeting of our campaign has been postponed due to lack of any news or activity since the last meeting, and to allow the new Council arrangements to "bed-in". The plan now is to have a meeting in September at the Town Hall, subject to any Covid restrictions at the time, followed by a social event in a local pub afterwards. The new date will be finalised by the end of this month and publicised to everyone accordingly.