Friday, December 08, 2017

Leicester's Black Boy pub has been saved


Good news from the Leicester Mercury: the planning inspector has upheld the city council's decision to refuse permission for the former Black Boy pub to be demolished.

The developers. says the Mercury, has planning permission to create 25 student flats in a three-storey extension if they retain the facade of the pub. But they claim the scheme is no longer economically viable and wanted permission to remove the pub altogether.

If that means there is a chance of the Black Boy being retained as a separate building and one day having a new use found for it, that can only be good news.

It is also good to see the city council fighting for Leicester's heritage beyond it grand projects in the city centre.

Since I started wandering the city with my camera, heritage campaigners have been defeated over the Bowstring Bridge, the Empire Hotel and a distinctive little group of buildings on the London Road.

I hope the Black Boy will not be the last such battle the council fights and wins.

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