Portsmouth publican sceptical about potential Campaign for Real Ale re-structure

And he’s sceptical about the prospect of the organisation changing its name and strategy.

Paul, the co-landlord of The Rose in June, in Milton Road, Copnor, said: ‘Camra has been changing over the years almost naturally.

‘It started off purely campaigning for real ale, and that’s been very successful.

‘The whole real ale culture has changed considerably over the years, and that in part has been due to Camra, without a doubt.’

Paul, who is a Camra member, is unsure about the group’s decision to help get local pubs registered as an asset of community value – which protects them from being redeveloped without permission being granted.

He said: ‘Camra has to be careful doing that sometimes because they have gone ahead in some instances and done this without consultation with the landlord and landowner, which may or may not be the right thing.

Paul added: ‘As far as supporting the publican, Camra has done that well through its campaign work over the years and sales of real ale have gone up. Whether it needs to become purely a consumer group and whether people will like that, I’m not sure.

‘I’m not sure if people would buy into that and if it would be the same organisation that’s been built up.

‘Any change of name and views could be dangerous.’

Meanwhile, Camra member Martyn Constable is confident the annual Winterfest and Portsmouth Beer Festival put on by the local branch wouldn’t fold if changes were made to the organisation.