Plea for protected status in battle to save gay pub

The Queen’s Head in Chelsea, whose regulars have included Stephen Fry and “Naked Civil Servant” Quentin Crisp, closed two weeks ago because of “astronomical” rent increases
Community asset: the Queen’s Head in Tryon Street closed two weeks ago
Matt Watts21 September 2016

Campaigners hoping to save a pub that has served the gay community for more than 60 years have applied for it to be given protected status.

The Queen’s Head in Chelsea, whose regulars have included Stephen Fry and “Naked Civil Servant” Quentin Crisp, closed two weeks ago because of “astronomical” rent increases.

A pub has stood on the Tryon Street site, near King’s Road, for 176 years but campaigners fear it will now be turned into flats or reopen as a “bland, corporate, faceless” venue. Holly Johnson from Frankie Goes To Hollywood is among those backing calls for the pub to be reopened as a gay-friendly venue under the same name with its traditional drag and karaoke evenings.

The campaign has applied to Kensington and Chelsea council for it to be classified as an “asset of community value”. This requires owners to give locals a six-month window to buy the pub themselves if it is going to be sold, demolished or converted for another use such as housing.

The community successfully fought a plan by the site’s owners JPP One LLP to close it in 2012 and convert it into three flats. Dorinda Montgomery, 53, a teaching assistant who is helping lead the campaign, said: “Its closure has been absolutely devastating for the community. We have seen this already in the two weeks it has been closed.” In the group’s application, pub regular Anne McMahon said: “London is increasingly becoming sterile, bland, corporate, faceless and impersonal – destroyed by gentrification.”

Sixties pop star Petula Clark wrote online in support of the campaign: “This wonderful old pub is an essential part of Chelsea, heart and soul.”

A spokesman for the freeholder said: “Unfortunately the temporary closure of the Queen’s Head is a result of the pub under-performing financially for a number of years and the leaseholder being unable to meet its financial obligations... the owner of the freehold is fully committed to retaining a public house on the site.

“The freeholder is committed to working closely with residents, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and other interested parties in order to create an enhanced offer which will appeal to all sections of the community.”

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