Demolition application for Telford pub - a month after it was knocked down

A retrospective planning application was submitted yesterday to Telford & Wrekin Planning Committee to demolish The Haygate in Wellington, which was torn down in January.

A 21-day consultation period has now started before the committee decide whether or not to retrospectively approve or decline the demolition.

Submitted by J10 Planning on behalf of RMR Partnership LLP, a letter along with the document states the applicant was unaware they needed planning permission until a notice from the planning department on January 17 – that was 10 days after bulldozers had moved in on the site.

It states: "This application follows the receipt of a letter dated January 17 from David Jones of the planning department alerting my client to the fact permission was now required for demolition of the building and that an application ought to be submitted within a month of that date.

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"It was not until the receipt of correspondence from Mr Jones that the applicant became aware that he ought to have applied under planning legislation through the prior notification procedure and that this effectively could not be retrospectively instigated once work had commenced to demolish."

Owners had submitted a demolition notice to the council's building control section in August 2018 for the demolition of all buildings on the site, along with an asbestos demolition survey in July 2018.

Known as a popular place for aspiring musicians from across Telford to cut their teeth for more than 15 years, wrecking crews started to tear down the music venue on Haygate Road on January 7 this year.

The pub celebrated its 10th anniversary as a music venue in 2013, and closed in March 2018 after owners Tina and Richard Saxon moved to France, leaving the pub dormant until its demolition.

Future development is expected to start on the site once another planning application is submitted.

Justin Paul, of J10 Planning, said: "Our client has plans to develop on the site in the near future. No formal or informal moves have been made with the local authority to do this yet but plans should start to be put together in the coming months."