Mike McClean has sent a final message to supporters of the Save the Green Dragon Campaign:
It's all over. Planning permission has been granted for the development of The Green Dragon site. We made our final representations at the planning hearing last night but were unsuccessful.
Many thanks to everybody who supported the campaign in any way over the past year, we did our very best and it was heartwarming to see so many people standing together to try to save our beloved pub. The final total on our petition was 4572 people, it's a shame this didn't count for more.
I would particularly like to thank Sharon McClean for her incredible support, James Watson for his invaluable advice, Leon Rodin for his work behind the scenes and Cllr Andy Milne for standing with us to the very end.
I personally will always cherish memories of a childhood in the pub garden, the spending of my first wage packet, the buzz of laughter and conversation on Friday and Saturday nights, countless birthdays and special occasions, and epic Xmas Eve and New Years Eve parties.
There is a real problem with the way Asset of Community Value applications are processed in this borough and if this doesn't change to allow communities to protect their pubs in the way the legislation was intended, there is a real risk that we could lose many more pubs in the near future. Please support any efforts which are made to effect this change.
Cheers
Mike
