Roof collapse pub owner appeals against demolition

The owner of a derelict building whose roof collapsed into the street on which the Bronte sisters' birthplace is also located has launched an appeal against an order to demolish the property.

In June 2023, parts of the roof of the former Springfield Hotel fell into Market Street in Thornton, Bradford, meaning the road had to be closed.

The council later removed the remaining roof and, in May this year, it issued a notice asking owner Mohammed Farid to either renovate or demolish the building.

But last Thursday at Bradford Magistrates' Court, an appeal by Mr Farid against the notice was adjourned after he said he did not have all the information he needed.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, following the partial roof collapse in June last year, council building engineers inspected the site and decided the rest of the roof needed to be removed for safety reasons.

The building, a former pub dating back to the Victorian era, has remained without a roof ever since, with the council issuing two Building Act notices to Mr Farid following the collapse.

One notice, issued on 13 June 2023, informed him that due to the "dangerous state" of the building, the authority would be removing the roof.

The second notice, issued on 28 May this year, called for him to either renovate or demolish the "ruinous or dilapidated" building.

However, Mr Farid appealed against both of these notices and appeared before magistrates on Thursday.

Joanne Gleeson, representing Bradford Council, told magistrates that officers had visited the building in June 2023 after complaints about the state of the roof.

She said engineers believed it had crossed the threshold of requiring emergency work.

"We had to close the road. It caused a lot of disruption, a lot of concern," Ms Gleeson explained.

"The building is still empty and still continues to be of concern to the council."

Mr Farid told magistrates that he had made a Freedom of Information request to the council on 4 July seeking details of the emergency works and the justifications for them.

But he added that he had since been told he would not get a response until early September.

He said: "Without that information I am unable to represent myself. I request that the court adjourn this case until I get that information."

As a result, proceedings were put on hold until November.

Earlier this year, the terraced house in which the famous literary Bronte sisters were born, which is also located on Market Street, was taken into public ownership.

More than 700 investors helped a community group to complete the purchase of the house.

It was hoped that restoration work allowing them to open the property to the public would be finished by next year, when Bradford is the UK City of Culture.

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