A company that let a historic Tunstall building fall into disrepair has been ordered to pay more than \u00a38,000, reports the City of Stoke -on-Trent Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
City of Stoke -on-Trent Council writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A company that let a historic Tunstall building fall into disrepair has been ordered to pay more than \u00a38,000. It is the latest case in a heritage enforcement drive that has now taken action on more than 100 buildings across the city. The city council successfully prosecuted Nour House Ltd and its two directors, who pleaded guilty to breaching an enforcement notice by failing to repair 179 High Street. The London-based company owns the 19th-century, three-storey brick building within Tunstall’s Tower Square Conservation Area. Planning enforcement officers found the property in a poor state of repair following a period of neglect and served an enforcement notice requiring the company to repair and maintain it. Despite repeated attempts to engage with the owners, the required works were not carried out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nour House Ltd and its two directors have now been ordered to pay a total of \u00a38,386.98 in fines, costs and victim surcharges. Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, Cabinet Member for Growth, Regeneration and Transport, said: \u2018People all across our city are sick of walking past buildings left to rot. So am I. If you own a historic building in Stoke-on-Trent and you walk away from it, we will come after you. We declared a heritage emergency in this city because too many important buildings had been left to decline for too long. Since then we have taken enforcement action on more than 100 buildings, and we are restoring 24 more through our Centenary Restoration Fund. This prosecution shows that where owners ignore us, we are prepared to follow it all the way to court. This building sits at the heart of Tunstall, yards from the Town Hall and the Clock Tower. It was left to fall apart by a company hundreds of miles away that decided it wasn\u2019t their problem. It is our problem, and we have dealt with it. We will continue to do so because Stoke-on-Trent deserves better.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n