Safety fears over derelict town hotel in Herefordshire
Herefordshire townspeople are concerned about the safety of a derelict former hotel which officials now agree is dangerous
Herefordshire townspeople are worried at the state of a derelict former hotel which officials now agree is dangerous.
Local campaigner and grandmother Allyson Taylor said the Hop Pole Hotel building in Market Square, Bromyard: “It’s now beyond a matter of civic shame, it’s about public safety.”
She said over 20 members of the public attended an emergency public meeting in the town on August 18, at which “feelings ran high”, after which the town council wrote to Herefordshire Council asking it to address these concerns.
A planning application has meanwhile been submitted by a Norfolk-based developer to convert the upper floorsof the historic grade II listed building into flats while retaining the ground floor as a bar or restaurant.
But “it will take months before anything happens” on the planning application, Ms Taylor said. “It will be glacial – until someone gets brained by a falling slate.”
A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said its planning enforcement team served notice on “the previous owner” – apparently multi-millionaire leisure developer Alfie Best – “to improve the external appearance of the property”.
This was found to have been complied with last November, with the sale of the property having been concluded the previous May.
“Whilst Planning Enforcement are not in receipt of any new complaints, a case has been reopened due to the deteriorating condition of the property, reported by the council’s building control team,” Herefordshire Council’s spokesperson confirmed.
Building control officers “have served a Section 77 and Section 78 Notice to address an immediate hazard requiring the owner to make the property safe and to remove the health and safety risk to the public due to loose masonry,” they said.
“Fencing has also been erected, and the owner has been given two weeks to comply with this notice that expires this week,” they added.
“Further compliance checks will be made.”
Meanwhile a meeting this week of the town council’s planning committee agreed to back Mr Phillips’ application, though councillors were concerned about the potential loss of parking spaces.