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Inn crowd battle for pub
By Mark Blunden and Georgina Littlejohn, Evening Standard 31.01.08
Spreading the word: Kate Moss wears a campaign T-shirt
First round: landlady Pauline Forster with Amy Winehouse who has promised to play a benefit gig
Film location: the unusual 360-degree light help make the George one of the best photoshoots in London
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Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse are campaigning to stop a development which they fear threatens their favourite East End pub.
The model and the singer have become the highest-profile recruits to a campaign to stop a block of flats being built beside the George Tavern in Commercial Road, Stepney, claiming it puts its future in jeopardy.
The listed pub is one of the East End's best-regarded music venues and has been visited by Duran Duran, Adrien Brody, Justin Timberlake, the Rolling Stones and Nick Cave.
But it is feared a residential development on land beside it, currently occupied by a nightclub, would end the lucrative sideline as a film and photo location on which it relies to survive.
Artists and directors have called the pub the best photoshoot in London, but say it depends on the unusual 360-degree light, which would be ended by a five-storey block of flats next door.
Landlady Pauline Forster has now been backed by Moss, who posed in a campaign T-shirt after being photographed at the George for French magazine Libération this week.
"Kate spent the whole day here and before she left we had a drink in the bar and a chat," Ms Forster said. "She said she would do all she can.
"When Kate first arrived she'd already told everyone in her car that it was the most amazing place she'd ever been to and the light was fantastic." Campaigners are using a MySpace page to call for support for the pub, parts of which date back to 1654.
On it Ms Forster writes: "The George survives because of these photo/film shoots and the place is so sought after because of the very special light.
"This light will be blocked by the new residential development, putting an end to this livelihood. The shoots bring money into the area, they also bring an air of excitement to the community."
Winehouse had called for the development to be stopped and has promised to play a gig there once she leaves her current drugs rehabilitation programme. Ms Forster said: "I met Amy when she came here to do location work. She's still on board with our campaign and hopes to play here."
Tower Hamlets has given until 8 February for objections.
A spokesman for the Swan Housing Group said: "While it is clear that the George is an important site of recreation and culture for some local people it is also situated in an area characterised by extremely high house prices and very little opportunity for those on low incomes who want somewhere to live."
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