Rogue developers demolishing listed buildings in Northern Ireland

It seems that some developers are a little unscrupulous in Northern Ireland, and it's forcing the government to consider new laws to stop them destroying listed or historical buildings in the hope of having them demolished.

The thinking behind this destruction is simple. Due to the existing laws in Northern Ireland, it's possible to render a building unsafe usually by way of fire, have it demolished, and then replace it with profitable new builds. Some developers have decided this is a very good way of doing business and at least 11 listed or historic buildings have been lost in this way.

The government aims to stop such practices and is considering a new law that could turn out to be very expensive for these rogue developers. If brought into effect, the new law would see any historically important building being made unsafe having to be rebuilt to look exactly the same. For a developer, that would most likely bankrupt them due to the high costs involved.

For the moment countermeasures are being taken to at least record the crimes properly. The police and Environmental Agency will work together to record crimes against historical landmarks and take the appropriate action to protect any materials from such locations as well as prosecute those who destroyed said buildings.

Source: BBC News

Willenhall school demolition brought forward following arson attack

Lakeside Primary in Holman Close, Willenhall, has not been in use for the past four years and was set to be demolished next month. However, over the weekend it was subject to an arson attack that required 50 firefighters to put out the 30ft high flames created by the burning school building.

In light of the damage done, and the now unsafe state of what remains, the demolition has been brought forward a month. Humphries Demolition will carry out the demolition and will have the site cleared within three weeks.

Thankfully the school wasn't one in use anymore as children moved to the then new Fibbersley Park School in Noose Lane back in 2007.

Source: Express & Star

Ballroom blaze

A derelict old manor house was the scene of a major fire yesterday. Tunstall Court, in Ward Jackson Park, Hartlepool caught fire and took over 40 firefighters to put out.

The initial response from fire teams was not enough to deal with the blaze and nine additional crews were called in from other stations.

Unfortunately this isn't the first time the old building has been set on fire and yet again arsonists are to blame for this latest incident. This time they seem to have been successful as the roof collapsed and the walls have become unsafe. Demolition is now inevitable.

Dave Turton, Cleveland Fire Brigade's district manager for Hartlepool, commented:

The cause of the fire is being investigated, but this building has been targeted in the past by arsonists and that is the likely cause.

There were potentially seven seats of fire inside the ballroom, which was piled high with rubbish, and was well alight when we arrived.

The ballroom roof collapsed and the walls are structurally unsafe. We would recommend a structural survey be carried out on the rest of the building.

Source: Peterlee Today

Help convict a high reach arsonist and get a nice reward

Vandalism on any scale is both costly and inconvenient for all involved, but when it comes to demolition machinery the costs can be huge and jobs will be delayed or in the worst cases lost.

Thomas Crompton, owner of a Bradford-based demolition firm has recently experienced a very costly arson attack on his machinery and wants to ensure the person responsible gets convicted.

The machine targeted was a new high-reach with a value of £330,000. The arsonist also took the time to break into an office and steal £5,000 worth of computer hardware. All done on a secure site monitored by CCTV.

Mr Crompton has had to ship in a new high-reach from Belgium to continue the job, but is asking for people to come forward with information that would help gain a conviction. In return, anyone providing such information is in line for a reward.

According to Mr Crompton:

We are offering a substantial reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible. We don’t want to let our customers down and we have got a replacement machine coming from Belgium so that none of our contracts are affected.

The arson was carried out at around 9pm on Monday 4th January in Heckmondwike. Anyone with information is asked to contact Dewsbury CID on 0845 6060606.

Source: Telegraph & Argus with thanks to Demolition News