{"id":21582,"date":"2019-02-05T17:17:46","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T17:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=21582"},"modified":"2019-02-05T17:17:46","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T17:17:46","slug":"ihbcs-heritage-from-the-doorstep-oldham-grade-ii-listed-mill-called-a-death-trap-to-be-demolished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=21582","title":{"rendered":"IHBC\u2019s \u2018Heritage from the doorstep\u2019: Oldham Grade II listed mill called a \u2018death trap\u2019\u2026 to be demolished"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"website\"<\/a>The Oldham Times<\/em> has reported on how an Oldham Grade II Listed Hartford Mill where there have been 250 emergency incidents in just three years \u2013 including arson, serious injury and a suicide \u2013 is to be demolished as councillors brand it a \u2018death trap\u2019 and reject linked stipulations by Historic England.<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

The Oldham Times<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n

The Grade II-listed Hartford Mill will be knocked down and replaced by homes under proposals agreed by the borough\u2019s planning committee last night. The Werneth building once stood as an icon to the borough\u2019s industrial heritage, but is now widely regarded as an eyesore and a risk ublic safety. Councillors addressing the meeting said they were losing part of Oldham\u2019s history \u2018with regret\u2019, but described it as an \u2018environmental time bomb\u2019 which portrayed the town in a bad light.<\/p>\n

Planning officer Graham Dickman told the committee the building had been vacant since 1991 and had fallen into \u2018rack and ruin\u2019 since that day.<\/p>\n

Members heard there were holes in the corroding concrete floor, a large part of the roof is missing, nearly all the windows have been smashed and the internal beams are no longer supporting the building. Merely making the building wind and watertight would cost around \u00a36 million, they were told.<\/p>\n

The town hall\u2019s principal regeneration officer, Ben Hill, told councillors the mill had \u2018significantly deteriorated through vandalism and lack of use.\u00a0 The mill is a blight for local residents and a magnet for serious anti-social behaviour,\u2019 he said. \u2018The building represents a real risk to those attempting to enter it and also to emergency services who are frequently called to attend incidents, sometimes serious. There have been over 250 recorded occasions during the past three years alone. Only the immediate demolition will stop this ongoing problem for local residents and unnecessary yet significant drain on depleted public resources.\u2019<\/p>\n

He added the mill currently dominates the skyline of the area as it is prominently viewed from the Freehold tram stop.<\/p>\n

\u2018The negative impact of the mill is not just local to the residents of Werneth and Freehold who have to live in the shadow of the building for over a generation, it also affects the social and economic wellbeing of the borough as a whole,\u2019 Mr Hill said. It is an \u2018unwelcome advert of decay for new residents and investors for the town alike\u2019, he concluded. Cllr Shoab Akhtar has been an elected representative for Werneth ward since 2000.<\/p>\n

\u2018The case load I\u2019ve got in terms of the blight and issues we\u2019ve had at this particular mill is far larger than the 250 cases that Ben Hill has mentioned,\u2019 he told members. We need to get this mill down as soon as possible. \u2018It\u2019s a blight, it\u2019s an eyesore and most drastically it\u2019s a death trap, we\u2019ve had people killed in there already.\u2019<\/p>\n

Councillors also agreed to abolish a condition of the demolition stipulated by Historic England, which would have meant a detailed planning application would have to be approved before the mill could be knocked down. Mr Hill explained this would make it difficult for the mill owner to find a development partner, as it had been unable to do so for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n

Committee chair Steven Bashforth said: \u2018We\u2019ve had multiple anti-social behaviour incidents, we\u2019ve had fires, the police have been constantly called, we\u2019ve even had a suicide at this site. It\u2019s a real blight on that area and of course it\u2019s holding up badly needed development around the area so I think we\u2019re justified to take that clause out, not only because of the negative effect it has on the image of Oldham but real effect on people who are living round there.\u2019 He added: \u2018We\u2019ve got the thing crumbling, we\u2019ve got asbestos in the air for people living round there \u2013 it\u2019s almost an environmental time bomb. \u2018We\u2019re very protective of our listed buildings, what we\u2019re discussing is an exceptional case. It\u2019s not something we take lightly, and a decision that we\u2019re taking with a great deal of regret.\u2019<\/p>\n

Chadderton North ward Cllr Barbara Brownridge said the heritage group seemed to be waiting for a \u2018mythical application\u2019 to materialise, despite admitting there was no viable use. \u2018They\u2019re giving with one hand and snatched it back with the other,\u2019 she said. Conservative Coun John Hudson said it was a \u2018tragedy\u2019 the building had been allowed to deteriorate over the last four decades. But he added: \u2018The sooner we demolish this the better, it eradicates a lot of problems. I just think it\u2019s sad that it\u2019s got into this state,\u2019 he said. Failsworth Coun Peter Davis, whose mother had worked at the mill during its time as a mail depot order site for Littlewoods, said there was no longer any demand for \u2018industrial palaces\u2019 like Hartford Mill. \u2018God forbid we have another fatality and we\u2019ve got a duty to get rid of it,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n

The mill, which was opened in 1907, produced cotton until the 1950s. In 2014, the mill was hit by a fire that caused considerable damage and a year later a teenager died after falling from the roof. Owners have marketed the site for sale numerous times, but have been unsuccessful. It\u2019s hoped the mill will now be replaced with new homes. The proposals were approved unanimously by councillors.<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Oldham Times has reported on how an Oldham Grade II Listed Hartford Mill where there have been 250 emergency incidents in just three years \u2013 including arson, serious injury and a suicide \u2013 is to be demolished as councillors … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21584,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21582\/revisions\/21584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}