Closure of much-loved Labour club averted

A Labour club that was due to close to make way for a housing development has been saved after a planned sale of the site was withdrawn.

The William Morris Labour Club in South Oxhey, which has served the community for more than 60 years, had been expected to serve its last pint at the end of April.

Its directors said the venue would now remain open "for the foreseeable future".

They said Three Rivers District Council, which owns the site, must identify new premises for the club before any redevelopment goes ahead.

The club, which was opened in 1963 on the post-war South Oxhey estate near Watford, is one of the area's few remaining community facilities.

Homes were built in the area after World War Two for 3,850 families from the East End of London.

Club members said they were "devastated" when they received letters announcing its closure.

According to the directors, the council indicated last year that it was prepared to accept the surrender of the club's lease, which still had more than a decade to run.

The club agreed and a memorandum of sale was drafted as part of the process.

The site forms part of the South Oxhey Initiative - a £150m regeneration project which includes 540 homes and new shops.

However, with the council not yet ready to redevelop the land and no alternative venue available, the memorandum has been withdrawn.

The directors said: "The closure has been called off and the club will still continue to serve the community."

They added that the support shown by local people demonstrated why the council's successor "needs to reprovision the club in South Oxhey when that time comes".

Local councillor Stephen Cox, who helped with the negotiations, said he was "absolutely ecstatic".

"I've worked my socks off since the closure was announced to have this averted," he said. "I'm very pleased that the directors have had a change of heart."

Viv French, from the members' steering group, said the news was a "huge win".

"It didn't just happen by magic," she said. "It happened because people made their voices heard at different arenas, and they supported the fight and stood up to be counted."

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