Preston pub demolition decided

The fate of a former Preston pub has been sealed after plans to flatten it were given the go-ahead.

The Tithebarn, opposite the city’s bus station, was deemed too dangerous to be saved following an inspection carried out on behalf of Preston City Council.

Now, the authority’s planning committee has approved its demolition – in a decision branded “a foregone conclusion” by a local group that had wanted to salvage the historic building and turn it into a heritage centre.

Preserving Preston’s Heritage (PPH) claimed that the property was not beyond repair and that there had been interest in buying it in just the last few days.

The city council took control of the premises at the junction of Lord Street and Tithebarn Street – and thought to date back to 1793 – shortly after it closed as a hostelry in February 2016.

It had originally proposed levelling the site back in May, but following a campaign by PPH, a community interest company, agreed to investigate the possibility of salvaging the section of the structure facing Lord Street – which the group’s own assessment had suggested was viable.

However, a further council commissioned survey published last month concluded that the entire building, which stands alongside the almost complete new Vault youth zone, was “unstable and unsafe”.  That verdict led to the application for demolition which was considered by the independent cross-party planning committee on Thursday.

The authority’s head of development management and building control, Natalie Somers, told the meeting there was a risk of an “uncontrolled collapse” at the site.

Members expressed regret at the building’s impending loss – with some also seeking to apportion blame – but none questioned the inevitability of the decision they were about to make.

Cllr Harry Landless said it was a “sad” situation, but added that he was surprised the pub was still standing even back in the days when he used to be its beer supplier.

“It’s obviously gone to serious wrack and ruin since,“ he added.

That decade of post-closure deterioration was alighted upon by Cllr Michael Peak, who said the building “shouldn’t have been allowed to get into this state”.

However, his committee colleague, Cllr Lynne Brooks, laid the blame for the pub’s dereliction at the door of “austerity” – and the resultant lack of council funding to invest in regenerating the site.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) outside the meeting, PPH member Rachel Bryson condemned what she said was a series of squandered opportunities to save the building – including via some eleventh-hour bids to buy it.

“I’ve [fielded] three requests since Sunday [asking], ‘Can I buy this building, who do I see?’  At least two of those have…gone in to the council.

“[The PPH bid in May] had looked at funding streams – it was a serious proposal with respected business people behind it who work here in the city and have actually rejuvenated old buildings previously.

“We’re not a shoddy outfit, we’re a sensible group of people with an interest in history – and we could have brought a real asset in a heritage centre here to the people of Preston,” Rachel said.

She also insisted that “any building can be repaired” and that the former Tithebarn was “not beyond salvage”.

“It’s had piling go in next to it on [the youth zone] – and that has shook the ground.  Buses go past it daily. It’s still standing.”

The LDRS approached Preston City Council for comment.

In a statement issued last month when the full demolition was put back on the table, deputy leader of the authority, Martyn Rawlinson, said the building was “far too dangerous and poses a threat to public safety, especially to our new neighbours The Vault and its young visitors”.

He nevertheless pledged that the authority would “do our very best to attempt to save some aspects of the façade or external wall that can be incorporated into future build designs for the site – and we also want to salvage some of the building’s materials that could potentially be reused in some way”.

Responding to previous comments by PPH about the potential to save the property, Cllr Rawlinson added:  “The council has listened and explored the Preserving Preston Heritage (PPH) proposals to convert the building into community use and has sought expert advice to see if there was some way the building could be in part saved, to facilitate plans of this nature to go ahead.

“Saving the whole structure was never an option, as the property is in too much of a bad state of repair. We have listened to independent expert advice and do not make this decision to demolish the property lightly.

“We understand that PPH has no available funding in place for a conversion of this scale, or to cover the costs of any of the urgent repairs that would need to be done. The property is too unsafe to remain standing in its current state, and we have a duty of care to our residents, especially located next door to the imminent new youth zone that will welcome thousands of young people through its doors.”