Owner of Newport hotel given 14 days to make building safe by court order
The owner of an empty Newport hotel at the centre of an exclusion zone has been given a court order to make the building safe within 14 days.
Roger Brock, of Town Centre Properties Ltd, which is responsible for the Royal Victoria Hotel in St Mary's Street, says he is "very hopeful" that safety work to the 193-year-old building will be dealt with in two weeks - the timescale ordered by the court to make the building safe.
Telford Magistrates Court has given him a fortnight to make the building – and its supporting structures – safe.
Earlier this week, an exclusion zone was put in place around the hotel, meaning St Mary's Street has been temporarily closed, as well as the footpath directly outside the building.
An inspection by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and ongoing investigation by Telford & Wrekin Council found that the building and scaffolding could not be demonstrated to be safe.
And for the interests of public safety, the closure order has been put in place for 21 days.
Mr Brock said: "We've got to quickly to make sure that everybody's inconvenience is minimal. The redesign has already been commissioned and since that has been done it has to go to the council for approval.
"There's no danger of the building collapsing or anything like that as we have had the structural engineer's report back this week. It just needs to be further updated."
Paul Marshall of Marshall Structures Limited wrote in a report on the hotel, seen by the Shropshire Star, that the building has "a number of issues" but "is not in danger of imminent collapse".
Referring to the right-hand gable wall (adjacent to Tylers Electrical), Mr Marshall wrote: "This section of wall has continued to deteriorate and the rotting away of the floors and roof have had a contributory effect on this.
"There seems little doubt that this wall needs to be taken down."
Mr Brock added: "The planning has been difficult, it's a great shame that the building was riddled with asbestos and that has to be done very carefully with men in white suits.
"I cannot speak highly enough of the planning team at Telford & Wrekin Council. The intention now is to convert the remaining structure into apartments.
"I was born and bred in Newport so I purchased the Royal Victoria Hotel for the benefit of the town rather than seeing it waste away, but things have conspired to make it more difficult – but we are getting through it."
St Mary's Street businesses outside the exclusion zone remain open as usual and can be accessed by customers on foot via High Street.
However, The Hub cafe in Newport announced its temporary closure today due to the exclusion zone around the hotel.
They said: "To all the customers and friends of The Hub Community Café - we are so disappointed about this temporary closure due to the condition of The Royal Victoria Hotel building, especially as we were due to celebrate our 3rd birthday on Friday.
"We really appreciate your custom and support and we look forward to getting back to serving you our delicious hot drinks, cakes, soups and lunches as soon as we can safely do so. Thank you for your understanding."
The Royal Victoria is a Grade II listed building, dating back to 1830 and taking its name from the late British Queen who visited the hotel in 1832.
It extended over its many years in operation – with the building of a grand ballroom and cocktail bar in 1910 – before it eventually closed to the public in 2015.
A Telford & Wrekin Council spokesperson said: “The Royal Victoria Hotel is a significant concern and our number one priority is the safety of our residents.
“Having secured the court order, the owner of the hotel will now be forced to take action and make the building safe in the next two weeks.
"If that doesn’t happen, the council will step in, do the work needed and recover the costs from the owner.
“We understand that the exclusion zone around the hotel will cause some disruption. We’re doing what we can to minimise this but we need to keep people safe.
“We will be working closely with people in the community to review the situation and keep them informed as it develops.
“Most importantly, we want to get this sorted as quickly as possible, so we will be pushing the owner to do the necessary work with urgency."
