Owners of a former bar and nightclub in Barrow are to be taken to court over an alleged failure to conduct repair and maintenance work, it has been revealed.
A council report says The Cry in Cornwallis Street has been a cause for concern for residents and the local authority for several years.
The report says a section 215 notice was issued under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 earlier this year.
“Under the notice, the owner was required to carry out various external works of repair and maintenance, including items such as guttering, downpipes and defective slates, plus repairing the first-floor bay window,” says the document from Steph Cordon, the borough council’s director of people and place.
“There has been very limited engagement by the owners, there was no appeal to the notice and there has been no significant improvement to the building.”
A hearing date of November 14 at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court in Barrow has been set.
The council hopes that a prosecution would have a ripple effect, leading The Cry’s owners to better maintain some of their other properties and encouraging other property owners ‘to take better care of their buildings’, said the report.
In her report, produced ahead of a meeting of the borough council’s planning committee, Ms Cordon says the council’s ‘main concern’ has been the risk to public safety posed by the ‘deteriorating condition’ of the first-floor bay window that projects over the street below.
“The council have made several attempts over the years to encourage the building owners to bring the condition of the building to an acceptable standard, reduce risk to the public and improve amenity, but with limited results,” she says.
“The owners (based out of the borough) were seemingly unwilling to carry out any works above ground-floor level.”
She described the property as a landmark and said that its current condition detracted from the setting of the town hall, which has a Grade II* listing, and the Central Barrow Conservation Area.
