Landlady fighting to save Lincoln pub told to call last orders

A Lincoln landlady is fighting back against plans to turn her pub into a care home.

As previously reported, an application has been submitted by Ideal Care Homes Ltd to City of Lincoln Council to build a 56 bed care home on the site of The Monson Arms pub on Skellingthorpe Road.

The proposal stated that the pub had become “economically unviable”, and that the owners, Admiral Taverns, were seeking to sell the site.

However, this claim has been fiercely opposed by locals and the landlady, Tracie Pickard, who have started a campaign to save the pub.

Regulars at the 52-year-old pub held a meeting on March 9 to discuss the proposal and a petition to save the pub has so far received 135 signatures.

The Save The Monson Arms Facebook page has also received over 1,000 ‘likes’.

Manson Arms on Skellingthorpe Road, Lincoln. Photo: Richard Croft

Tracie said: “This is my business and my home, and I have grown up on the estate. The pub is the hub of the community and serves old and young.

“If the proposal for the care home is approved then I will receive just 30 days to leave my home and business. There will be nowhere for my pool, darts, poker, and football teams to go as other pubs nearby have been closed and the land built on.

“We also have charity organisations that run from the pub as we have a large function room which is also used for birthdays, christenings, weddings and wakes.

“I don’t oppose another care home, just where they want to put it – why close a thriving community pub when there is already land available in the area?”

Tracie added that the first she knew of the plans was when a neighbour showed her a letter outlining the applicants’ proposals.

She also said that she signed a one-year tenancy agreement with Admiral Taverns on January 7.

Admiral Taverns have been contacted by The Lincolnite, but have not yet provided a response.

Jo Sutcliffe, Planning Manager for LNT Construction, who have submitted the plans on behalf of Ideal Care Homes Ltd, said previously: “The home is designed to best enable the delivery of quality care and provide a positive lifestyle choice for local people who may be frail, elderly or living with dementia, many of whom will have spent their lives within the local community.”

The company added that up to 50 jobs would be created.