They weren’t forced to run a bar, they were forced to keep a historic structure up. It could have been turned into other commercial activities without any question.
> they were forced to keep a historic structure up
This is untrue. The building was never designated a historic structure. This action by the local government had nothing to do with Heritage England. It was solely a bizarre flex that shocks the conscience (and would be unconstitutional at least two different ways in the U.S.).
Did you even read the article you're so vehemently fighting on ideological grounds...?
> After being denied planning permission to convert it into 10 flats, and two days before English Heritage was due to recommend the pub be granted Grade-II listed status [...]
> "We had a suspicion before the demolition that they would do something, so we asked English Heritage to think about listing it. They took a plaster cast of every tile, they took pictures and documented everything."
The building was in the process of being designated as historic, a process whose outcomes are typically unofficially known weeks or months in advances. A date was set for the announcement. Demolishing it two days in advance of that was a complete dick move, if you excuse the technical term.
> would be unconstitutional at least two different ways in the U.S.
There is nothing in the article, nor in anything you've provided, that supports the idea that the English Heritage restrictions go into effect once a site has been nominated. Please withdraw that claim, or link to the relevant source.
Even assuming that's correct, however, it still would not make it acceptable to insinuate that something was already listed as a historic structure when it, in fact, had not been so listed.
Ah yes, so the Council made an order, the legitimacy of which was confirmed by a specific review, just because... they hate private property? They are drunk on power? :eyeroll:
Councils in England ultimately have this kind of power to maintain the character of an area, and they use it. There is nothing scandalous or new about it.
This is untrue. The building was never designated a historic structure. This action by the local government had nothing to do with Heritage England. It was solely a bizarre flex that shocks the conscience (and would be unconstitutional at least two different ways in the U.S.).