Council fails to get into the Mechanics’ (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Council fails to get into the Mechanics’
11:30pm Monday 5th July 2010 in News By Scott McPherson
Matthew Singh, owner of the Mechanics' Institute outside the building
SWINDON Council will take Mechanics’ Institute owner Mathew Singh to court in a bid to help save the Grade II* listed building.
The council waded into the long-running row after Mr Singh failed to satisfy them with the schedule of urgent works that need doing to the dilapidated building in the town centre.
They will undertake the work, as directed in the Urgent Works Notice given to Mr Singh by the Health and Safety Executive, and recover the cost from the owner when the work is completed.
However, when the council tried to get into the building yesterday morning to start the work, they found it was padlocked and could not get through to the site manager despite several calls.
A spokesman for Swindon Council said: “The owner was served with an Urgent Works Notice last December and was given until April 19 to give a clear, credible schedule of work he intended to carry out, along with proof that he had instructed an approved contractor to do it.
“Just before the deadline on April 19 the owner presented the council with information about the Urgent Works.
“After being examined in detail, it did not give the council or the Health and Safety Executive reassurance that the work would have been done to the required standard.
“This is why the council will now do the work itself and then seek to recover the cost from the owner.
“The council has secured a grant of £200,000 from English Heritage towards the cost of the repairs.
“The council attempted to gain access to the Mechanics’ Institute yesterday morning to carry out Urgent Works, which are intended to ensure the building is weathertight, and to stop it from deteriorating further.
“The owner has been kept fully informed at every step, and knew that the council had requested access at 9.30am yesterday.
“However, the site was padlocked and no-one was there. Telephone calls to the site manager, using the number displayed at the site, were not answered.
“The owner is required to give the council access to the property, and we will now apply to the court for a warrant.”
Mr Singh was unavailable for comment.
Comments(15)
Bobfm
says...
10:55am Tue 6 Jul 10
Mum's The Word
says...
10:57am Tue 6 Jul 10
my Facebook group in support of The Mechanics
http://www.facebook.
com/#!/group.php?gid
=16096720316&ref=ts
and the official one:
http://www.facebook.
com/#!/group.php?gid
=2228853906&ref=ts
kirstywithalopecia
says...
11:44am Tue 6 Jul 10
Mr Blackwell
says...
12:30pm Tue 6 Jul 10
.
It says much about the abject lack of aspiration, generally, in an around Swindon that these appear the only alternatives for the place other than for it to fall down (further).
.
Sadly, it's hard to hold out much hope for the town when buildings like the Mechanics and Locarno are essentially wasted.
politicrat
says...
3:15pm Tue 6 Jul 10
Mr Blackwell wrote:well the whole town is a wasteland, so it is actually in keeping with its surroundings.
It's such a crying shame that the only apparent outcomes for the Mechanics are yet another hotel or some waste of time 'community centre'. . It says much about the abject lack of aspiration, generally, in an around Swindon that these appear the only alternatives for the place other than for it to fall down (further). . Sadly, it's hard to hold out much hope for the town when buildings like the Mechanics and Locarno are essentially wasted.
hmmmm
says...
3:16pm Tue 6 Jul 10
rmc001
says...
5:18pm Tue 6 Jul 10
Old Town
says...
5:23pm Tue 6 Jul 10
politicrat wrote:Well hopefully you will move out and leave us in peace one day then Politiprat !
Mr Blackwell wrote: It's such a crying shame that the only apparent outcomes for the Mechanics are yet another hotel or some waste of time 'community centre'. . It says much about the abject lack of aspiration, generally, in an around Swindon that these appear the only alternatives for the place other than for it to fall down (further). . Sadly, it's hard to hold out much hope for the town when buildings like the Mechanics and Locarno are essentially wasted.well the whole town is a wasteland, so it is actually in keeping with its surroundings.
faatmaan
says...
6:23pm Tue 6 Jul 10
itsamess
says...
8:43pm Tue 6 Jul 10
WiltshireLeppard
says...
9:51pm Tue 6 Jul 10
Grimwald
says...
10:01am Wed 7 Jul 10
Why the sudden interest in the Mechanics from the Council and how far will £200,000 go on a £12m budget for refurbishment?
What plan does Roderick Bluh have for the building because rest assured he will have one?
Why is Matthew Singh so casual about this issue, does he have nothing to fear in court?
Is this issue being used to deflect our interest from other more important issues like potential redundancies in the Council and further Cutbacks in Services or the lack thereof?
Where are the Mechanics Institute Trust on this issue? - they are noted for their lack of public relations - do they even have someone handling this very important aspect of their activities? Does this raise their suitability to look after this very important building if they were ever to gain control of it?
I smell a rat!
I Too
says...
11:43pm Wed 7 Jul 10
I'm sure The Mechanics' Institute Trust will be taking more than a passing interest over this issue.
I have seen their plans, which involve multiple uses for the building, and a link to the Designer Outlet Village.
Their plans have actually been fully approved. Multi purpose uses are the best option because, as someone has already stated, any large, individual, commercial use will cause too many other problems, regarding parking, traffic congestion etc.
The planned arcade / link to the outlet village would also allow a fully public access to the building, as the founders intended
Grimwald
says...
12:08am Fri 9 Jul 10
politicrat says...
10:27am Tue 6 Jul 10