The Picture Palace’s conversion into shisha bar described as “troubling” by national campaign group as Ponders End looks set to lose its last pub, reports James Cracknell

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has accused Enfield Council of failing to do enough to protect local pubs after a Ponders End venue was allowed to be reopened as a shisha bar and another won permission to convert into a restaurant.

The Picture Palace in Ponders End High Street closed as a pub in 2021 and is now set to reopen soon as ‘Tiger Bay Enfield’, part of a chain of shisha bars that serve food and drink, after its owners claimed this represented “continued use as a pub”.

But Camra claims that the council has not followed planning rules. A previous application was submitted by Tiger Bay Ltd in 2021 for change of use to a restaurant, which was later withdrawn. The leaseholder subsequently submitted an application to “establish the use of the building as a pub with food provision” and claimed that its plans for a shisha bar serving food would fall into this bracket.

The Picture Palace – originally opened as Howard Hall and later used as a cinema – was operated as a JD Wetherspoon pub for many years before being acquired by Hawthorn Leisure in 2016, which continued to operate it as a pub serving food. The pub closed in 2021, however, after struggling during the pandemic.

Enfield Council continues to own the freehold to the venue and Ellie Eames, Camra’s regional director for London, said it should have done more to protect it. The Goat is now the only pub remaining in Ponders End, but was granted permission to convert into a restaurant earlier this year despite pleas from local people and Edmonton MP Kate Osamor to protect it as a pub.

Ellie said: “Public houses are a vital part of local life and The Picture Palace was a wonderful example of a place at the heart of the community where people could come together to socialise.

“This irreplaceable social value is part of why pubs are protected by national planning regulations and the Local Plan approved by Enfield Council itself. It is troubling that the council appears unconcerned about the potential use of The Picture House as a restaurant, without a full change of use application, especially when they are the freehold owners.”

The destruction of The Crooked House in Staffordshire this summer brought the plight of Britain’s historic pubs to national attention. Camra is now warning that local authorities are not doing enough to protect them.

In the case of The Picture Palace, Camra’s local branch made a formal complaint to the council over its handling of the planning application and an unauthorised extension at the site. However, the complaint was not upheld, with the council saying a retrospective application was now being considered in regard to the extension and that the use of the premises as a shisha bar “was confirmed as lawful” without the need for a change-of-use application.

Gary Timmins, Camra’s director of pub and club campaigns, said: “While councils such as South Staffordshire have committed to being proactive about using all pub protection policies available to them in the face of the high-profile loss of the Crooked House, others should not be able to ignore or flout planning rules with little or no recourse for communities.

“Our most recent pub closure data suggested that up to a third of pub losses may be unauthorised, meaning a pub like The Crooked House or The Picture Palace could be being converted every six days without relevant permissions.

“This tragedy plays out across the nation and Camra wants to see stronger national rules that require local authorities to take enforcement action where pubs are unlawfully converted or demolished.”

Enfield Council and Tiger Bay Ltd were contacted for comment but did not respond.

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