A 300-year-old Grade II listed former pub that was destroyed by bulldozers following a devastating fire could be rebuilt "brick by brick", it has been claimed.
The former Toby Tavern Bar and Grill on Ashley Road, Skelmersdale was knocked down early on Saturday, May 7, after a suspected arson attack in March, with the community furious with the sudden and "unauthorised" demolition of the former Skelmersdale Hall which dated back to 1712. The historic building had been ravaged in a huge blaze on March 4 which led to firefighters battling the flames through the night.
The fire destroyed the building's windows, roof and large parts of the walls with police announcing that a joint investigation with the fire service had been launched due to the incident being suspicious. The dormant building had been subject to a planning bid submitted by applicant SEP Construction Services Ltd in June last year to demolish an existing outbuilding and convert the Grade II listed building to offices, a kitchen and bistro and multi-use space on the first floor, Lancs Live reports.
READ MORE: Liverpool to introduce new 'underground super-bins' in bid to clean up city
The plans would have seen a new building containing apartments as well as a communal lounge for residents, a salon, a guest suite and a staff room in the proposed extra-care living facility. and included an application for listed building consent.
Yet the original plans were withdrawn in April, a month before the building was knocked down, while the same applicant applied to the council the day before the bulldozers moved in in May, in an application which reads: "Listed Building Consent - Demolition of Grade II listed Old Toby Inn to chamber level following [a] fire to make the building safe (retrospective)." The application was put to West Lancashire Borough Council’s planning department on Friday, May 6.
Ashurst Councillor James Upjohn said the "heavy machinery" had rolled in early one Saturday morning, the day after the local elections. He said: “I think that what has happened is terrible. They submitted listed building consent after being told we want this to be restored… and the council was tied up with the elections on the Friday, and on the Saturday morning, the heavy machinery rolled in and flattened it. The application has been submitted retrospectively, so basically, it’s a case of, are we allowed to do this?
“If somebody chops a tree down that’s got a tree protection order on it without permission, they’ll have the book thrown at them; a Grade II listed building is equally important but at the end of the day, there’s a process, it’s not one rule for developers and different rules for residents - everyone has to follow the same rules.”
He said the next steps would be for a site visit if the matter went to the planning committee, adding that the developer would be able to state their case on why listed building consent should be accepted. He added: “The planning committee can vote on whether retrospective listed building consent can be given.
“If they say no, we’re not giving consent, the next step is to rebuild the thing, like, you’ve not got permission to knock it down, so it needs rebuilding, brick by brick, and there is precedent for that.” Adding that he wanted to see something that was "viable for the entire community," he said: “One thing I definitely want to see there is the old hall rebuilt; it dates back to the 1700s and is of significant heritage importance.
"I would like to see it rebuilt brick by brick, because at the end of the day if the process was followed correctly and someone said can we demolish it because we’ve got a better scheme, if permissions were granted and it was all done above board, that would be a completely different thing, but what you can’t do is just roll in, do what you like and then say, well it’s done now so we can just do what we want.
“It’s like, 'We’re a law unto ourselves; we will do what we want and you just have to accept it' and my answer is, 'No, I’m not going to accept that because we’ve got a process to follow and you’ve not followed it'.”
Grimster Planning Ltd, who were named as agents on behalf of applicant SEP Construction Services Ltd in the application submitted on May 6, were contacted for comment. West Lancashire Borough Council was contacted and Lancashire Police were also contacted by Lancs Live for an update.
