Councillors seek assurances Grade II listed Mountain Daisy will remain a community pub following shock closure
Following the shock announcement of the closure of the Mountain Daisy pub earlier this week the city’s Liberal Democrat councillors are calling for assurances about its future use to remain as a public house.
The councillors are calling for the City Council to protect the popular community pub from being converted into housing or shops – and for its historic interiors to be protected from damage or destruction.
The City Council has responded by highlighting its “proud record of preserving, restoring and respecting our city’s historic heritage”.
The Mountain Daisy pub on Hylton Road in Millfield has a Grade II listing with English Heritage and also has a three star heritage pubs grading from CAMRA in recognition of its ‘outstanding historic importance’.
The pub’s buffet bar area retails original floor to ceiling ceramic tiling and bar from the Edwardian era and is deemed to be of national historical importance.
The councillors have said the landlord has informed customers that the building had been sold - with the new owner intending for it to be “used for another purpose”.
As a Grade II listed building the site will automatically have restrictions on what alterations can be made and any future developments would require planning permission.
Lib Dem councillors, including Steve Donkin, councillor for Pallion, Ford Estate, St Gabriels, Pennywell and Hylton Lane Estate, are now calling on the City Council to refuse any attempts by the new owners to convert the building into housing, shops or any other use.
Cllr Donkin said: “Our local community has been shocked at the abrupt closure of the Mountain Daisy, with the licensee being given just 24 hours by the building’s owners to close the business and shut up shop.
“The pub has a Grade II listing with English Heritage and is clearly of national importance for its historic pub interiors.
“We need urgent reassurances from Sunderland Council that planning authorities will be keeping a close eye on what is going on at the Mountain Daisy – and will take action to stop any of the historic interiors being unlawfully altered or destroyed.
"The pub is a hub for the community and is a vital part of our social fabric.
“Together with its historic interiors, I am clear that the building needs to be kept as a pub. Sunderland Council must reassure residents that any attempts to convert the listed building into housing, shops or a take-away will be rejected and this historic building will be saved as a community local.”
Responding to his fellow councillors concerns, Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Business, Councillor Kevin Johnston said: “As a City Council, we have a proud track record of preserving, restoring and respecting our city’s historic heritage.
“Whether that is the Elephant Tea Rooms, the Doxford Gatehouse Arch, or the Bishopwearmouth Townscape Heritage scheme that has aided restoration works at The Peacock, The Dun Cow, the Sunderland Empire and the now popular Minster Park.
“I should mention too our ongoing works at the F-Pit in Washington or recent works at the Seaburn Tram Shelter.
“I would gently remind councillors here in Millfield and Pallion that they should know full well the council cannot prejudge any planning application let alone a hypothetical one that does not exist.
“The building is privately owned and should the council be determining any future application, then its grade II listed status will clearly be a key factor in the decision-making process.
“We would, in the meantime, encourage the pub’s owners to be mindful of that heritage and consider it carefully as they look to the building’s future use.”