Listed building in Derry served with Urgent Works Notice

The Department of Environment has served an Urgent Works Notice on the owner of 20 Crawford Square, a listed building in the Clarendon Street Conservation Area of Derry.
~ Thursday, 19 January 2012

This tall, late Victorian building is on the Built Heritage at Risk in Northern Ireland (BHARNI) register and, despite repeated attempts by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) to encourage the owner to take action, no works have been carried out.

The Department has now issued a notice which outlines the action it will take to carry out emergency works if the owner does not initiate these within seven days. The notice is one of a number planned this year across Northern Ireland following the heritage crime summit.

Welcoming the move, Environment Minister Alex Attwood said: “This is a tangible commitment to Derry’s rich heritage. Our listed buildings are jewels from the past which need to be conserved for now and future generations. Once gone they can never be brought back. That is why, following the Heritage Crime summit that I organised, I provided extra funding to ensure direct action such as this could be taken to protect our listed buildings. What I and the DOE are about is creating a better place to live, work and invest. Listed buildings attract much tourism and there is always the potential to develop this further by securing and preserving them. I am determined we do that and this Urgent Works Notice is an example of that determination.”

No 20 Crawford Square is one of four listed buildings of a designed terrace at the upper end of a formal square in the Clarendon Street Conservation Area. All four had particularly fine internal plasterwork at the time of listing and are also notable for their external detail and for the architectural character they provide to their surroundings. Their brickwork, for example, is tuck pointed – a quite rare technique where a brick facade is washed in red lime wash and white lime pointing is used to create a very regular appearance.

As part of Programme For Government, 2008-11 DOE is committed to 'protect and enhance our environment and natural resources'.

Notes to editors:

1. 20 Crawford Square was listed Grade B1 on 26 February 1979.
2. Following the Heritage Crime Summit called by Minister Atwood in August 2011 NIEA was provided with extra funding to enable it to undertake direct action in such cases. Another notice was issued in Dungannon in October and final warning letters have proved successful in generating action at two cases in Belfast. The notice issued at Crawford Square is part of a planned approach to target selected cases across Northern Ireland.
3. DOE policy is to negotiate with the owners of buildings at risk and to encourage and support them to take action to secure their buildings and to find a long term use. However, where a building’s preservation may be at risk it has powers to take direct action. Even in such circumstances, Departmental policy is to find a negotiated solution. In this case, repeated attempts to chart a solution have proved unsuccessful and a notice has been issued.
4. This is one of two properties on the terrace which are on the BHARNI register and there were reports earlier this year of anti social behaviour around the building. It is important therefore that action is taken in regard to this building to protect it from loss but also to ensure that its neighbours and the character of this part of the Conservation Area are not blighted.
5. This building has been vacant for many years but was nearing the end of a scheme of repair in 2008, when it suffered a major fire. Works did not recommence. Though some efforts to secure the building were subsequently carried out this was of a temporary nature and the property remains open to the elements and is continuing to deteriorate.
6. NIEA have tried repeatedly to encourage the owner to take action. Two formal warning letters have issued since August 2011 and an Urgent Works Notice under article 80 has now been issued. The owner has seven days to carry out works to secure the building. After this time, if works have not commenced, the Department will carry these out, and seek recovery of costs from the owner.
7. Paragraph D3 of Annex D to the Department’s Planning Policy Statement 6 (PPS6) – Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage policy (in PPS6) outlines the departmental policy to negotiate with owners:-
   ‘While there is no specific duty on owners to keep their buildings in a good state of repair it will normally be in their interests to do so. The Department has statutory powers to take action where an historic building has deteriorated to the extent that its preservation may be at risk. In practice the Department will normally try to enter into dialogue with the listed building owner in an attempt to find a way to rectify the situation before resorting to legal action.’
8. Urgent Works Notices, issued under Article 80 of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, enable the Department to carry out urgent works for the preservation of a listed building. These powers are confined to urgent works and are intended to cover only emergency repairs – e.g. – to keep a building wind and weather proof, and safe from collapse, or action to prevent theft. They are limited to the minimum necessary to secure the preservation of the listed building.
9. The use of Urgent Works Notices is only one part of a wider strategy deployed by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency to tackle the issue of listed buildings at risk:
   
   a. It funds the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (UAHS) to compile an on line Built Heritage at Risk database (BHARNI). This is published on the NIEA website.
   
   b. It operates a grant scheme which was expanded in 2008 to support repairs for most types of listed buildings.
   
   c. It operates a grant scheme which provides extra support to building preservation trusts to help them purchase listed buildings at risk.
   
   d. It funds the UAHS to employ a building surveyor to encourage and advise owners on funding and other means they can take to save their listed buildings.
   
   e. It uses its network of area architects to identify potential cases and to engage with owners at an early stage.
   
   f. It engages with local councils, government departments, and voluntary sector stakeholders to develop solutions in specific areas.
   
   g. Following last year's Heritage Crime summit it commissioned the UAHS to produce extra information on reuse and specifically on the potential for ‘meanwhile uses’ to stave off decay.
   
   h. It writes to the owners of listed buildings which are of specific concern advising them of the Department’s powers to take action should works to preserve the building be regarded as urgently necessary.
   
   i. NIEA is also currently reviewing its grant scheme with a view to seeing if further targeted support can be offered in the future.
10. NIEA has a ten year target of saving 200 buildings which are on the BHARNI list by 2016. In 2011 and half way through the process, over 100 buildings had been saved.
11. All media enquiries should be directed to the DOE Communications on 028 90 256058. Out of office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715440 and your call will be returned.