Council spends more than £500,000 to buy and demolish chapel in Yorkshire town

Redcar and Cleveland Council announced last week that it planned to demolish the former Arlington Chapel in Loftus, east Cleveland, and the schoolhouse once associated with it next door. It said the total cost of buying the property out of private ownership and knocking it down was £550,000, funding which is coming from the Tees Valley Combined Authority’s indigenous growth fund.

Labour’s Sue Jeffrey, who previously headed up the council during a former administration, challenged Councillor Chris Gallacher, the cabinet member for economic development, over the investment at a meeting, having previously questioned whether it was value for money.

Councillor Jeffrey said it was a “shame” that the same priority was not given to a former probation office building in her ward in Middlesbrough Road, South Bank, which has attracted arson attacks and vandalism. She said the building, understood also to be in private hands, was derelict and unsafe with a footpath also closed off.

The council said Arlington Chapel was bought after being identified as a key plot for future potential development, as part of the Government-backed Future High Streets Fund project for Loftus. It said surveys had shown it was at risk of collapse and the sandstone would be stockpiled to use elsewhere.

Coun Jeffrey said: “Originally it was for new social housing, but there has never been any proposal brought forward so we are spending half-a-million pounds on an empty space. I have in my ward a probation office standing empty and derelict for two years which is equally unsafe.

“Can you tell me when South Bank is going to get some indigenous growth fund money to put that building right and indeed all the other derelict buildings across the borough that don’t seem to be getting the same attention at all?”

Coun Gallacher said matters concerning Arlington Chapel had been “well discussed”, adding: “The building you reference in South Bank, I don’t believe we own it, it is owned by a third party who lives in London.”

In another development, ex-Teesville ward councillor Bob Norton, a former cabinet member for regeneration, has written to assistant director of governance and chief monitoring officer Steve Newton, labelling Arlington Chapel as a “vanity project” and suggesting the deal to buy it should be investigated by auditors.

In an e-mail Mr Norton said residents had “just cause to question the process” and said due diligence by the council should have revealed the poor structural status of the building previously. He questioned why the council had not had the building made safe or demolished at the owner’s expense.

Mr Norton said during his time the absence of a viable business plan and associated capital had been cited as a reason for the council not taking ownership of the chapel.

He wrote: “The indications are that the purchase of the Arlington building amounts to nothing short of a vanity project and that the signing-off of the expenditure is worthy of further investigation by the council auditors.”

The council said it had paid £236,000 to release a charge against the chapel and said it had been quoted just over £200,000 to demolish it, while a residual sum had been budgeted for to survey the condition of a neighbouring wall.

Coun Gallacher said: “Currently, the council’s main priority for the site is to reduce the risk to public safety. Once the site is safe we will revisit the marketing to gauge market interest and then consider potential development options for the site thereafter. Going forward, any future proposals will be thoroughly scrutinised and also consulted on through the statutory planning process in due course.”