Two historic Telford buildings facing the bulldozer given reprieve by council
Two historic buildings that were under threat of disappearing under the bulldozers have been granted a reprieve.
Members of Telford & Wrekin Council's ruling cabinet passed two motions at a meeting last night to protect the former Charlton Arms in Wellington and Haybridge Hall in Hadley.
The local authority will award a grant of £300,000 to the owners of the Charlton Arms to kick-start redevelopment. The hotel closed 10 years ago and has remained derelict since, becoming an eyesore in the town.
Planning permission has been granted for restoration and re-use of the building and up to 41 homes on the site, including 11 apartments in the former hotel. But councillors were told the project was economically unviable without some form of help.
Councillor Kuldip Sahota, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "This is good news. I get emails every month from the local civic societies to ask what we are going to do with it."
Meanwhile, at the same meeting, councillors voted to impose a condition which prevents Haybridge Hall, a former Victorian great house, from demolition without planning permission being granted for a replacement.
The hall, built in about 1870, was bequeathed to the people of Hadley in 1965 by Graham Murphy, of the family which owned Wrekin Brewery. It is now owned by Wrekin Housing Trust, which wants to demolish the building and redevelop the site. It was refused planning permission in January to knock the hall down and replace it with four bungalows – but the meeting heard that if a condition was not imposed, there was nothing the authority could do to stop it being demolished.
Cabinet member Councillor Gilly Reynolds said: "This building is valued by the local community and doing this demonstrates we are listening to them."
Fellow cabinet member Councillor Liz Clare added: "It's the start of a process. I just hope it's not a protracted process that takes years, because what will happen is that it will fall into disrepair."
Former Hadley resident Brenda Riley launched an online petition to save it from the bulldozers.
