A LAST-ditch legal challenge to save an historic building in Bolton has been launched by a conservation group.
Save Britain’s Heritage (SBH) has secured an injunction against Bolton Council, which is preparing to demolish the former Bolton Community College and replace it with a temporary car park.
Now town hall bosses must order workers to down tools until the matter is resolved in the High Court.
Marcus Binney, founder of SBH, said the plan was one of the worst examples of civic destruction he had seen.
DEMOLITION work on an historic Bolton building has stopped while its fate is decided by lawyers.
The former Bolton Community College in Clarence Street was due to be torn down and replaced with a car park until an emergency legal challenge last week.
Now Bolton Council has voluntarily agreed to stop work, and contractors — who had already started removing the windows and roof — have downed tools.
The public inquiry into the Centros development was dramatically adjourned on Wednesday following a request from the city council.
The council asked for the inquiry to be stopped so it could
consider the "latest professional views" raised during the hearing at
Lancaster Town Hall.
It followed the city council's senior conservation officer Stephen Gardner
giving evidence about the plan which covers 10 acres of prime land in Lancaster city centre.
Lancaster City Council has announced its withdrawal from the
Centros public inquiry.
This announcement comes just days into the proceedings,
apparently following damning evidence on the heritage impact of the £150
million redevelopment scheme.
The application, involves the demolition of 30 historic buildings, 18 within
conservation areas, and is being opposed at the Inquiry by SAVE, English
Heritage and local group It's our City.
The public inquiry into the £140 million Canal Corridor scheme in Lancaster has been adjoured suddenly.
The development, which would include retail, office, cultural and open space, was given the go-ahead by city councillors in October but was called in in January by the then secretary of state Hazel Blears.
Developer Centros withdrew from the inquiry in March to avoid potential costs of up to £1 million, which it said would jeopardise the project's delivery and community benefits. Lancaster City Council was defending the plans on its own.
