Historic England has joined the Salford and Eccles MP, local councillors and the community led Save the Crown Theatre Eccles campaign in objecting to proposals to demolish the Grade 2 listed former Crown Bingo Hall which dates from 1899.
In its formal objection letter, received by Salford Council this week, Historic England notes that the Crown Theatre is a "significant public building in the area" and a "nationally important building".
The body which oversees the country's heritage assets adds that it has "significant concerns with the scheme" which would see the total demolition of the Crown Theatre, to be replaced by 97 unaffordable flats.
In its planning application, Indigo Planning only refers to the loss of the front facade of the building but Historic England (HE) states that it is "not accepted by ourselves that the only matter in consideration in this listed building consent application is the loss of the Church Street elevation. The loss of the whole building needs to be justified by the applicant, with the appropriate supporting evidence provided".
HE goes on to condemn the "brief and inadequate heritage assessment" submitted to the Council. It adds that, according to national planning policy, loss of a Grade 2 listed building should only be in "exceptional" circumstances and only to achieve "substantial public benefits" ... "we do not consider this case to have been convincingly made" it adds.
There are four other criteria under which a Grade 2 listed building can be trashed, none of which is met by the applicants, HE states. It explains that no other development options for the site have been considered, other than flats; that there hasn't been a proper official detailed and costed condition survey of the building and the viability of it being restored; that the applicant hasn't been able to demonstrate that no other use for the building can be found; that the applicant has not demonstrated that it has approached other bodies to find funding for the restoration of the building; and finally, that a case must be made on "whether the loss of the building is outweighed by the benefit of bringing the site back into use"...
Historic England adds that "It should be noted that the existence and active nature of the Save the Crown Theatre Eccles campaign group, demonstrates the level of public interest in the building" and concludes "We object to the proposed demolition and recommend that the application is refused..."
Historic England's objection is added to those of Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, who says "I fully support the campaign to bring this potentially beautiful building back into productive community use, and even better, community ownership if possible..." and the local Eccles councillor Peter Wheeler who notes: "Eccles has already lost enough of its history and we will be working closely with local people to ensure their views are made clear to the Council's planning panel."
Still to come is the Theatres Trust objection and the final petition from the Save The Crown Theatre campaign, which already has over two thousand signatures.
There are also two community consultation meetings about the planning proposals on Tuesday 27th October at 1pm and 7pm at the Nur Malaysia Community Café, Liverpool Road (about 100yds from the Theatre) M30 0WA.
For a full background on the Crown Theatre, the campaign to save it and quotes from the MP and councillor see previous Salford Star articles – click here and click here
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