Roehampton residents who have been waiting months for a chance to question their local police face a further obstacle tonight: the ward panel meeting has been moved online, away from the community hall where it was supposed to be held.
The Roehampton Safer Neighbourhood Team wrote to residents on Sunday to “humbly apologise” for the change. “This is due to unfortunate extenuating circumstances with the venue,” the email said, without further explanation.
The meeting was due to be held at Focus Hall on Minstead Gardens. It is the first ward panel since the police’s formal effort to close The Angel pub – one of only two in the area – and comes months after 29 officers, a helicopter and a battering ram descended on the pub on Roehampton High Street yet found nothing but cannabis stalks in an upstairs bedroom.
Rather than in person, the meeting is now on Microsoft Teams, 7pm to 8pm.
What residents have been waiting to ask
Nearly 700 residents signed a petition to keep The Angel open after the police case for its closure was made public.
A licence hearing took place on 29 April, held behind closed doors in violation of public access law. Former landlady Sally Cox was excluded from both hearings about her own pub. Two Roehampton councillors testified in support of the police position; neither had spoken to her. The Licensing Committee decided not to revoke the pub’s licence.
The Met has not responded to several requests from Putney.news about the case. Tonight is the first opportunity for residents to hear from officers directly.
The meeting is open to all Roehampton residents online.
