Council left to foot the bill for Battle Road demolition works
The bill for demolition of the derelict arches in Battle Road will have to be paid by Hastings Borough Council who say they don’t yet know how much that will be.
Battle Road will be closed for six days from Monday to allow the installation of concrete protection blocks that will protect pedestrians and road users while demolition work takes place.
Today a council spokesman told Hastings In Focus: “To ensure the safety of residents and road users the council will carry out the work and then take legal action to recover the costs once demolition has been completed. The exact cost of this work is not yet known.
“The council has already sought legal action against the owners in relation to the dangerous structure and the court required the owners to take action, but they did not comply with this court order.”
According to the land registry the owners of the property are Elsie Goldsmith, Vaughan Wheatley and Simon Leeves all with addresses in St Leonards.
Once the work to install the protection blocks has taken place the council says there will be a lane closure for the foreseeable future until the structures have been removed safely. Temporary traffic lights will be in place to regulate the flow of traffic and the junction with Duke Road will remain closed.
Steps from Battle Road up to the rear of the properties on Silverlands Road will be closed permanently.
It was in May last year that the owners of the dangerous building were given 16 weeks to repair or demolish it. The council obtained a court order, under Section 77 of the Building Act 1984, requiring the owners to remove the danger posed by the structure either by repairing or demolishing it. But the 16 weeks passed and nothing happened.
Councillor Kim Forward, leader of the council and lead councillor for planning and enforcement said at the time: “It is disappointing that the owners of this structure have let it fall into this state. It is even more disappointing that despite us having contacted them about this they have failed to do anything to address its condition.”
During the initial stages of the work a diversion will be in place using Ashbrook Road and the A21.
Firstly why did HBC fail to take action against these three owners of this property years ago. It had been in a state of disrepair for over ten years at least.
Where was that crack outfit Grotbusters to deal with it. Or how about the Ward councillors, didn’t they ever notice the state of deterioration over the years of it.
Regarding the costs. HBC have the legal recourse of going to court for the financial recovery of the works against the three cited on the Land Registry title. And even easier – they are local residents.