Manor House Nursing And Residential Home, Lightcliffe
Demolition of a nursing home to make way for 14 dwellings in Lightcliffe West Yorkshire:
Difficult to date this building, but it certainly has historic qualities that would be sad to lose. Architecture aside, surely it must be the wrong direction to be losing care home stock as our population ages? Why not some enabling development in the grounds to keep the place going?
Mediocre urban design rears its ugly head once again:
Has the architect even visited the site? Why waste time and money doing something like that?
Edwardian house in Dewsbury
An attractive town house in Dewsbury with marvellous high chimneys is to be demolished to make way for an extension to a religious building.
http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/application_search/detail.aspx?id=2015%2f92174
This is an interesting case, as the loss of the building in question would be to allow for the extension of a religious building. I respect that the council needs to offer provisions for the building of places of worship – West Yorkshire’s Muslim community has become part of the quintessential character of the region. As such I suppose this location is as good as the next, but it remains that this is the loss of an attractive old building the likes of which can no longer be built.
I would challenge the developer to see if such an old building could be modified into a mosque, or perhaps even look to some of our redundant industrial buildings or the methodist churches and schools that we are in the process of losing. That would be an interesting integration of cultures, and be a unique addition to the industrial landscape of the region.
Broomgrove Club, Sheffield
Application to demolish Broomgrove club in Sheffield, for the erection of a couple of houses:
I don’t know much about this building, but it certainly had some utility for the local community which will sadly be lost. Whats more, the net gain from this development is only one dwelling. And realistically a second dwelling could be added to the existing curtilage. This is further loss of the civic architecture the Victorians left us, not due to redundancy of the building, but because their legacy – prestige and primacy of social institutions, and participation in society – has been eroded. This is a serious concern for our culture.
Duke of York pub Sheffield
Another corner site pub in Sheffield is being demolished as part of a wider site clearance on behalf of Lidl, purveyors of continental shrink-wrapped groceries.
Lidl already have a supermarket on this block, so this demolition is to make way for a cap park extension. Specifically, the plans show the footprint of the pub being replaced by a trolley storage unit.
Just another reminder that after all the rhetoric from local governments about pursuing sustainable development, we are losing a community asset to facilitate further the culture of driving to a supermarket to fill your car with groceries. Of course, anything can be described as sustainable thanks to the caveat that economic growth or job creation is an important ‘pillar’ pf sustainability. I’m of the opinion, that if development doesn’t meet all the criteria for sustainability, then it is not sustainable, with no exceptions. Come on Sheffield, don’t let them extend their car park to further this urban void!
Mount Pleasant School
Here is a link to the Huddersfield examiner article covering the ongoing campaign to save the amazing clock tower at Mount Pleasant School In Lockwood:
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/mount-pleasant-clock-tower-campaign-9989185
I feel a pattern emerging. A former council property is snapped up in an auction by a developer for next to nothing, and plans to demolish said building are expedited by the council. How can we demolish this architectural treasure?
Thankfully the Examiner are very vocal about local heritage, and hopefully the campaign to stop this iconoclastic behaviour will be successful. Please if you can attend the meeting in support of this campaign. See linked article for dates and location.
Demolition of houses in North Huddersfield
An application to demolish two town houses in Huddersfield has been submitted, to be replaced with 14 apartments:
http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/application_search/detail.aspx?id=2015%2f92557
The contrast between the new and old buildings doesn’t really require comment. Sadly, this will be technically be considered a brownfield development, with a net addition of 12 dwellings. On paper this is exactly what the council have been asking for. Yet I’m sure that the loss of these Victorian buildings from the area of Huddersfield that remains thoroughly authentically industrial in vernacular, will continue to push Huddersfield into the realm of another generic town.
Housing crisis trump card will certainly be played here, and we will sadly lose some fine old houses.
Former Council Depot, Thornhill
An application to demolish the old council deport at Thornhill has been submitted. The building, formally known as Overthorpe Halls stable block has been subject of local concern for some time, recognised as an important local asset
in a local newspaper.
http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/application_search/detail.aspx?id=2015%2f92509
The building represents the last of the Victorian stock in the area. The proposed replacement is a series of terraced houses that are of a mediocre design quality by an architect, that I suspect has not visited the site, such is the generic nature of the proposal. The extant building so unique and charming, and look robust enough for conversion as was noted in a recent listing on right move. Yet again, more short cited vision by a developer who likes to keep the housing market as simple as possible – build em flog em
.
The proposed massing ignores the street, and negates the courtyard feature, which would have provided much needed communal space.
A structural report – commissioned by the client (basically a formal statement to the sentiment of whatever the client requests) mentioned the building is beyond repair. This is simply not true, and an impartial report needs to be available to the council.
If only the developer could see the value of 8 dwellings in a converted Victorian building, when compared to 8 new builds. I thought the industry had realised this inherent value a long time ago.
St Cecilia’s Church, Sheffield
Plans to demolish a church in a housing estate in Sheffield:
This pleasant building represents an excellent 1930s effort at a Norman revival from the latter end of the most recent church building age. The building has been threatened for a while, but it seems that the asset strippers at CofE have decided that flattening the sit – hiatus – selling the site, is the most tactical approach to use here. Very sweet building that could have been saved if only it was positioned elsewhere, outside of this housing market area in suburban Sheffield.
Station Hotel, Bawtry
Plans to demolish a pub in Doncaster:
No plans as of yet to utilise this site which is currently occupied by this pub and a large courtyard and stable building to the rear. Shame
Cinema and Hospital clearance in Todmorden
A large area of the centre of Todmorden is being cleared, with plans to build a Netto supermarket:
The site is occupied by the former cinema and the Abraham Ormerod Hospital in a central location in the town. Previous plans for the supermarket incoperated the cinema frontage, but this submission sees the site fully cleared.
I think of lot of the town of Todmorden. An outpost of Yorkshire high in the Pennines, the air is so damp that the buildings are bright green with lichen.The buildings in question here are not particularly special, but the fact that a picture house was built for the good people of Todmorden reflects on how vibrant and independent Pennine life once was. As each Roman town had it’s stadium, so the Mill town had its Odeon.
Sadly Todmorden didn’t quite manage to achieve the cult status of neighbouring Hebdon Bridge, but it is a town like no other nonetheless and needs looking after. I hope the council consider retaining the front of the old cinema. These buildings mean a lot to small towns that are still trying to define themselves. Having a budget supermarket as the focal point of a town centre sends out the wrong message, and is certainly not regenerative.
The Demolition Register 