The Compton Arms in Islington is under threat

Gavin Hanly 30 September 2022

The Compton Arms in Islington is under threat - here's how you can help

30/09/22 - update

A decision is getting closer as the public hearing for the Compton Arms licensing has been announced - it will be on Wednesday 12 October 2022 (with a pre-report available here, four working days before). The meeting starts at 6.30pm (although other licences are also being reviewed) and is open to all. We'll be aiming to attend and will let you know asap what is decided. Here's hoping for a positive outcome.

Original story follows

The Compton Arms has been one of our locals (our favourite one, really) for many, many years and is an important part of the Islington community.

It was great to see it get a new lease of life over the past few years, and massively improve in the process, with its latest owners. Along with generally making the pub much better looking and well kept, they also launched Four Legs into the stratosphere, while current residency Belly looks really good too. Popping in the other night, it's nice to see how busy it still is and it's undeniably one of the best pubs in the area.

So it was extremely disappointing to read this Instagram post (embedded below), in which a few nimbies-gone-wild are in the process of getting the pub's licence reviewed (only four of them, while other neighbours are apparently completely supportive). From our own recent visit, we can't disagree more with some of the allegations, like it being a "public nuisance" or "poorly run" (we were notably impressed by the military precision in getting everyone in from the garden at 10pm sharp).

It should be noted that when nearby pub The Canonbury Tavern closed for an extended period a few years back, there were similar efforts from neighbours to stop it from reopening but the landowner was insistent that it remain a pub for the local community. Here's hoping that Islington residents similarly show their support for this tiny pub which, we feel. is incredibly important to the area.

The deadline for submissions is 23 August. To help them in the battle email Licensing@islington.gov.uk with reference 220023934, making sure to include your name and address. We'll certainly be doing the same.