The Nautical William Pub opened it’s doors in the 1950 on a piece of land bought by William Cox. The former pub was not immune to the Covid pandemic, which proved difficult for many businesses, and shut it’s doors in 2021. Since then, the building has lied derelict on the wayside and exists as empty shell ready for a new lease on life.
After roughly 2 years of being subjected to the elements, members from the community saw an opportunity to rejuvenate this building into a community centre and place of worship. A centre by the community for the community. A place to serve everyone, regardless of faith, ethicity or background.
No sooner had the planning application been put forth than a barrage of misinformation began to spread about a building which had been neglected for 2 years. The online and leaflet campaigns not only misrepresetned everything the centre stood for, but insighted a swathe of hateful and derogetory comments on social media.
Unfortunately the recipients of said campaign had not even verified that the application, which is publically available states: “Change of use from the former pub (Sui Generis) to F2(b) Halls or meeting places for the principal use of the local community and F1(f) Public worship or religious instruction”.