The closed Star of Greenwich pub is set to be sold by the naval charity that owns it, leaving it facing an uncertain future.
Greenwich Council has issued a notice saying that there are plans to dispose of the pub, on Old Woolwich Road, which was briefly open as a community-run venture but closed last year when Greenwich Hospital called in a £52,000 debt.
Because it is an asset of community value (ACV), community groups have until September 4 to ask to be considered as a potential bidder – enabling them to halt any potential sale for six months so they can prepare the bid.
However, one of the team behind the Star of Greenwich thought it was unlikely that anyone would bid. He fears the old backstreet pub will be converted into housing – and accused Greenwich Hospital of wasting money by throwing his team out.
Originally known as The Star & Garter, the pub is registered in the name of the secretary of state for defence – currently John Healey – on behalf of Greenwich Hospital, which owns much of the town centre, including the market. The charity still owns the freehold to the original Greenwich Hospital, now the Old Royal Naval College, and the National Maritime Museum.
The rents charged by Greenwich Hospital in SE10 fund a 300-year-old private school in Suffolk as well as services for serving and retired members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, including grants and bursaries. It also owns sheltered housing in Plymouth and Portsmouth, as well as in Park Row, close to the Star of Greenwich.
The Star & Garter closed four years ago after a stabbing, after which police were not called and the CCTV was found not to be working. Despite support from neighbours and no previous record of violence at the pub, a Greenwich Council licensing committee voted to shut it down.
Locals campaigned to buy the pub from Greenwich Hospital, and came to an agreement to reopen and run the business themselves. It reopened as The Star of Greenwich in April 2023, and aimed to become “the most inclusive pub in London” and even featuring in a Los Angeles Times article.
But the pub closed suddenly in November last year after Greenwich Hospital called in a £52,000 rent debt.
The designation to renew the pub’s designation as an asset of community value – which aims to protect locally-valued facilities – was only made by the council in May.
James Gadsby Peet, one of the team who reopened the pub, told The Greenwich Wire: “It’s a sad state of affairs when the council, MP and local community wanted the pub to stay as a community asset, but the town’s largest landowner was unwilling to collaborate with any of us.
“They have said that they are only able to operate in Greenwich on a commercial basis, due to their charitable commitments. However, this is a new interpretation as the previous chief executive was much more willing to explore the wider social impact of their property portfolio.
“They’ve now had to spend thousands securing the building, whilst also wasting council and police time dealing with the squatters that inevitably moved in. We could have kept the pub going with their support.”
He added: “Unfortunately I can’t see any way back from their current ambition to sell so it’ll go the way of so many of our neighbourhood community spaces and become private residences.”
Greenwich Hospital has not responded to a request for comment.
The disposal notice and details of how to intervene are on the Greenwich Council website.
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