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Camden News - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBER
Published: 24 July 2008

The fire-damaged Hawley Arms in February

Hawley’s reopening ‘stalemate’

HAWLEY Arms licensee Ruth Mottram says the iconic pub is stuck in a “stalemate” with planners over its recovery from the Camden fire.
The sticking point is where a new staircase will go in the pub with the council refusing to allow a new one at the rear of the Castlehaven Road building.
“If we could rebuild the pub as it was pre-fire we would have done,” said Ms Mottram. “We would have been open a month or two ago and we would be making money again. We were forced to change the layout of the pub.”
The council has suggested putting the staircase where the roof terrace is, but Ms Mottram, who runs the pub with fellow licensees Alan Day and Doug Charles-Ridler, said losing the outside space would ruin the its atmosphere.
“The suggestion is we’re using the fire to extend our pub, which I find quite offensive,” she said.
“I feel so disappointed in the council who you would think would want to support local businesses.
“Ours is a business we turned around in three years and made a focal point of Camden – and they don’t want it back.”
Ms Mottram added: “I was told: ‘It may be that no one can see the back of your pub now, but they will be in the future. There’s going to be a big development behind your pub and a walkway’.”
A Camden Council spokesman said: “Camden has no issue with any plans that would reinstate the Hawley Arms to its original layout. However, the applicants want to do a major internal redesign which involves building an extension to accommodate an external staircase at the back of the pub.
“There are no plans at the moment to develop the area at the back of the pub – the council are working closely with the Hawley Arms to ensure it is open for business very soon.”

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