The Society is well used to trying to market individual buildings
at risk, but recently it became aware of an entire village at
risk. The mill village of Mullan, just south of the border in
Co Monaghan, had come on the market and despite being almost competely
intact and in a charming location, it enjoyed no statutory protection
whatever.
The UAHS collaborated with An Taisce in preparing documentation for its possible listing, and also contacted a number of possible sympathetic purchasers.
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The Society has been concerned that the worthy
objective in the Rural Planning Strategy to see vernacular buildings
in the countryside re-used is not often followed through in practice
by the Planning Service. We are frequently approached by people
who want to bring an old barn or derelict cottage on their land
into use but are told by the planners that because the building
"does not display the characteristics of a residential dwelling"
- that is, because the chimneys have been removed, stairways have
collapsed, or there is no specific housing character left - they
will not grant permission for the restoration.
On the face of it, this seems bizarre, as the building is already
there physically, can often be made very attractive, and the applicant
may have personal recollection of it having been occupied ten
or fifteen years earlier. However the planners are used to thinking
in terms of land use, and to them a dwelling in an old shell is
the same use as a modern bungalow. They have also had some bitter
experience of granting permission to revive a former dwelling
and then being faced with a runaway digger demolishing the shell,
and a bungalow going up in its place - same use class, impossible
to enforce.
We have argued that it should be possible for Planning Service
to impose retention of the shell as a condition of the residential
use, but there was a view that once the use had been granted it
would be possible for owners to appeal against that condition,
leading to the proliferation of bungalows which we both want to
avoid. Nevertheless the Society has supported many cases where
the ruined building has historic interest.
We recently appeared at an appeal over reuse and restoration of
a vacant dwelling outside Saintfield, and the Planning Appeals
Commission has found in favour of the appellant. Interestingly,
a condition of the use is that "the building as restored
shall not be demolished", making it impossible for the approval
to be converted to permission for a bungalow. We believe that
this sets a useful precedent for other applicants who genuinely
want to restore vacant buildings. For further details click here.
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Although actually published at the end of June, the report produced by SAVE Britain's Heritage on the plight of Northern Ireland's built heritage has continued to produce resonances.
There were few surprises to the Society in a report which criticised the quantity of de-listing resulting from the Second Survey, the lack of planning enforcement in the province, the attrition of our vernacular heritage, and the treatment of the Historic Buildings Council. Many of these were issues which we have been campaigning on for many months or years. However the fighting speeches made at the launch by SAVE Chairman Marcus Binney and Secretary Adam Wilkinson, and the assembly of so many damning points into one document produced by a body from outside the Province carried considerable weight. The resulting media attention has drawn the issues to a much wider audience than would otherwise have been possible. Even BBC2's Newsnight picked it up. It filmed the demolition of a late 18th century (unlisted) building in Fermanagh which had been condemned by the approval of a replacement dwelling grant. Newsnight's reporters also found it incredible that a building should be delisted because it had had plastic windows inserted - surely, as SAVE had suggested, it was the owners of the building rather than the building itself that should be punished?
The "30 Steps to Saving Ulster's Heritage" identified by SAVE include:
Copies of the report (46pp) can be obtained
from SAVE Britain's Heritage, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M
6EJ (tel 020-7253 3500, or e-mail to save@btinternet.com. The
Society also has a number of copies available.
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The designation of five conservation areas in Belfast last year is being tested to the hilt by developers, particularly in the very large Malone area. The Society has been represented at a number of appeals in the area, but the recent one for 32-34 Wellington Park was particularly significant. In June the Planning Appeals Commission found against the developer, and confirmed that demolition in conservation areas will only be approved in exceptional cases. For more details click here.
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The attractive seaside town of Donaghadee is coming under pressure from developers keen to cash in on the apartment market with demolition in the Manor Street area, part of the conservation area, and also more recently at 8-10 New Road which is not protected but has some very good Georgian and Edwardian houses.
The local residents' association has been campaigning
for some months to save the group of buildings
at the foot of Manor Street, which includes a simple cottage thought
to date from the 18th century. 
This is roofed with the now very rare Tullycavey slates, and some
timbers inside appear to have been part of ships. This application
is complicated by an existing approval for development on the
site which ignored the requirement to obtain Conservation Area
Consent to demolish the buildings. The Society is supporting the
residents, and it appears that both applications will lead to
planning appeals at which the UAHS will make its case.
An application earlier in the year for demolition at the Parade in the centre of the town was withdrawn following the Society's objections, and has we understand been changed to a scheme for conversion to flats.
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A further test of the effectiveness of conservation area controls has been the attempted demolition of a pair of semi-detached Victorian houses by David Scott dating from 1876, in the cul-de-sac of Holyrood off the Malone Road. Planning permission exists for the development of three houses on the site, and the developer commenced demolition on the strength of that. However since the designation of the conservation area last August, demolition now requires planning permission, and the Planning Service warned him of this.
Unfortunately he had stripped the roof of slates and removed many of the windows, not to mention any interior features of the houses, before he was finally forced to stop through pressure from local residents, Assembly member Carmel Hanna, and the Society. He has now lodged an application for conservation area consent to demolish, but the Society believes this cannot be heard without prejudice unless he has reinstated the roof and windows which he had removed without authorisation. It may be abortive work if he is granted approval, but the developer continued to damage the building despite repeated warnings that he had no right to do so. If the option of refusing permission is to be given proper weight then it is essential that the property is secured and prevented from further decay or vandalism until the decision is made. Although a sad sight without its windows and slates, it has to be remembered that this house was occupied and in sound condition until very recently. A better idea of its quality can be obtained from looking at the nearby house on the Malone Road at the head of Holyrood.
If you would like to object to the application
please write to the Planning Service quoting reference Z/2001/1554/DCA.
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A listed bow-fronted eighteenth century house
in Upper English Street, within the Armagh conservation area,
was demolished at the end of May. Known locally as Green's from
a former barber's shop in it, it was unusual in the survival of
much of its domestic character, as was hinted in the fanlight
over the main door. While it had fallen into some disrepair it
was by no means beyond restoration and could have been a tremendous
ornament to English Street. It had been identified as a key building
in the Armagh Townscape Heritage Initiative, and money would have
been available for its restoration.
The Society has pointed out that such a demolition deprives the
community of an important part of its past and an irreplaceable
asset for its future, and has called on the DoE to take the prosecution
for this work to the high Court, where a developer can be fined
to the extent of any profit he might hope to make from the demolition.
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The Society has joined local residents in the campaign to save
Cabin Hill in East Belfast from possible redevelopment. It is
presently the junior school of Campbell College, which proposes
to sell the grounds to developers.
Although no planning application has yet been lodged for the site,
we have asked EHS to consider listing the building. Despite some
later accretions to the rear, the front and west elevations are
largely unaltered, and the building is still adorned with stone
chimneys and ironwork finials, while the interior includes a marvellous
staircase and carved newel posts.
The extraordinary history of Cabin Hill is not well known, but
Brian Baker, who taught at Cabin Hill for 35 years, has produced
an excellent history of it. Cabin Hill was originally a thatched
house with a small plantation of trees on a hill on the site.
It was bought in 1786 by Sam M'Tier and his wife Matty, who was
brother of William Drennan and co-author of the Drennan Letters
which give so much information about late 18th century Belfast.
William Drennan himself came to live there in 1807, and was active
in the formation of Inst which opened in 1814.
About 1850 the old cottage was pulled down by the solicitor John
Dinnen, who erected the present grey stone two-storey house. In
1902 it was bought by Robert McMordie, who was elected MP for
Victoria Ward in 1907 and Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1910 (his statue
is in front of the City Hall). Its distinguished history continued
when it became the residence for Sir James Craig, first Prime
Minister of Northern Ireland, from 1920 to 1922, with the billiard
room being used as the Cabinet Room and the coach house as barracks
for the deputation of Special Constabulary. In 1924 Campbell College
acquired the building as its junior school which opened in 1929.
May 2002: We are delighted to add that Cabin
Hill has now been statutorily listed following the representations
of the UAHS and many local people. The outcome of development
plans for the area will be ascertained in the wake of a planning
appeal to be heard on 17 September 2002.
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We would like to record the generosity of a life member of
the Society who has made a donation to us this month in appreciation
of the work we are doing in campaigning to save buildings in Belfast.
We also appreciated a letter of thanks from a residents' association,
whom we had supported in a recent planning appeal. They recorded
the "expertise and commitment" of the two committee
members and one staff member who had taken part in the appeal,
and said that if the buildings are preserved "it will be
largely thanks to them".
It is often assumed that we operate on government grants, or even
that we are a branch of government. We are not. Some of our activities
have obtained much-appreciated assistance from the DoE or the
Heritage Lottery Fund, but to keep our operations running we depend
on the subscriptions of our members, income from our publications,
occasional bequests, and donations from public-spirited individuals.
Much of the work is done on a voluntary basis by committee members.
As our Treasurer reminds us every year, we actually cannot afford
to employ even the small staff that we do.
If you feel that our work is worth while please consider making
a donation, or if you are preparing a will think of making a bequest
to the Society. Make sure that you complete Gift Aid forms to
ensure that we can reclaim tax on your support. Best of all, buy
our publications, and persuade your friends to join the Society.
If you're reading this and have found some useful information
on the site but you are not a member - join now! While we do provide
outings and discounts for members, the main reason many members
join is to support our work. We need your subscription, but most
of all we need a thriving membership so that we can honestly say
that our views represent the concerns of a great many other people
too.
To join the Society (everyone welcome, no qualifications needed!)
click here
for a form; to buy our books, look through the details of our
Publications
and click here
to order them.
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After many years of attrition of the Victorian
and Edwardian character of Belfast's suburbs, it appears that
a line has at last been drawn in the sand.
The conversion of five of the old ATCs into conservation areas
in August 2000 was a major step forward, and the UAHS has made
a point of supporting the planners and local residents groups
in any planning appeals for demolition in them during the last
year. The Planning Appeals Commission decision just announced
refusing an application to demolish 138 Malone Road is an indication
that the new conservation areas will be able to control demolition
despite some recent permissions.
The applicant had appealed against a deemed refusal for demolition
of this Edwardian villa designed by Henry Seaver in 1904. Although
the building is not listed the PAC concluded that it "makes
a material, positive and significant contribution to the character
and appearance of the Conservation Area", and that "demolition
of such a building would create a precedent that would be prejudicial
to the area as a whole."
It goes further, in recording that it "regards as indefensible
the consents granted by the Department for the demolition of period
buildings in the Conservation Area" since its designation,
and states that such demolition without good reason "should
not be perpetuated".
This is a very significant gesture of support for the new conservation
areas and we hope that the Department will take heart from it
to ensure that we do not lose any more buildings of this quality
in these areas. (A look at the introductory pages to the UAHS
list of Buildings in Malone and Stranmillis will remind you how
many fine buildings have already been lost to the area, each one
forming a planning precedent for the next).
For further details, click this picture: 
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The Planning Appeals Commission has recommended
refusal at a public enquiry held in the autumn under Article 31
of the Planning Order into an application for outline planning
permission for a deep water quay, cargo handling area which would
have involved land reclamation and dredging that would have wrecked
the Old Town Dock at the heart of Warrenpoint.
There is a strong argument for "deep water" to be provided
at Warrenpoint, but the PAC felt the case was not made that it
had to be located in this position. The "local archaeological
and historic significance" of the Old Town Dock was accepted
despite the lack of statutory listing, and it was recognised that
the loss of the dock could have a "negative impact"
on tourism. While Warrenpoint has been a harbour for many decades,
the accoutrements of modern ports, including a large gantry and
cranes, would have an "unacceptable impact on the existing
townscape" and to the Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty.
The Society had presented written evidence to the enquiry in support
of the local objectors. This decision is particularly encouraging
in that the evidence of Fred Hamond, as an adviser to EHS on industrial
archaeology, obviously carried considerable weight despite his
recommendations for listing of the Old Town Dock not having been
accepted by EHS.
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Our towns and villages are full of buildings
that are not listed but could contribute strongly to their surroundings
given a little care and attention. A good example is the curved
corner between Bradbury Place and Donegall Road in Belfast, which
many people will remember as Moses Hunter's public house. Hardly
recognisable beneath the weight of illuminated advertising that
appeared on it last year, there is believe it or not a decent
late Victorian (1895) building beneath the tat. The Society pointed
out the recent accretions to the City Council and to the planners,
and the most blatant advertising has now been removed. Wouldn't
it be nice to see even more off it though?
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This five-storey textile factory with a canted corner and classical granite doorcase, was designed by Watt & Tulloch in 1909, and recently closed. It was acquired by developers who maintained as usual that they "couldn't make it stack up" without demolishing the building, which has now been cleared. Even after demolition it appears that it didn't stack up as well as they had expected, since the cleared site is now (February 2001) on the market again.
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Nos.71-75 University Road is a group of stucco
houses known as Fitzwilliam Terrace. Built in 1846-48, it is contemporary
with the nearby Botanic View Terrace, University Square, and of
course Queen's College itself, all built within a decade. Although
Thomas Jackson's original Queen's Elms of 1859 was replaced by
the modernist Student's Union some thirty years ago, the setting
of the university is otherwise remarkably intact, and Queens'
proposal to demolish not only the union (which will be lamented
by some) but also Fitzwilliam Terrace, in order to erect a "landmark
building and space" seems very foolish.
The Society joined with the Belfast Civic Trust and Belfast Buildings
Preservation Trust in objecting to the brief being given to architects
for "Lanyon II" (as the university's plan to redevelop
the area in front of the main building is called), reminding the
university of the motion unanimously passed by its convocation
in 1994 that "whereas change in most fields can be carried
out without losing past culture, the alteration or destruction
of architectural heritage is irreversible". The vice-chancellor,
Prof Bain, has assured us that "every aspect of the scheme
will again be examined" before full planning permission is
sought, but the setting of one of Belfast's best-loved buildings
should not be compromised by demolition for a new building that
is less than excellent.
May 2002: We are pleased to report that the University has withdrawn its plans to demolish Fitzwilliam Terrace, citing among other reasons the strong public campaign to save the buildings. We welcome the University's decision to keep the terrace, and await with interest details of its proposals for the Institute of Irish Studies in Fitzwilliam Street (now to become virtual rather than real), and for the new entrance to QFT that is to be created from University Square.
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Nazareth House, the Victorian former convent
of 1876 at the junction of Ormeau Road and Ravenhill Road, has
been sold to developers for £4m and they say they cannot
make their project "stack up" without demolishing the
existing building. The Society met with the developers and their
architects when their planning application was lodged, and suggested
that retention of the tower and main block at least would be worth
preserving as prime attractions of the site, as it appeared they
were being condemned without any proper measured survey having
been carried out. Unfortunately the building is not listed, presumably
because of its additions as the original structure is largely
intact and a very important piece of townscape for the area. Local
residents are now pressing for a reduction in the proposed development.
PS. Demolition now under way (March 2001).
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Seaport Lodge is an elegant but comparatively modest 18th century bathing lodge on a dramatic clifftop location overlooking Portballintrae. Those of you with a copy of our North Antrim list can refer to the charming picture of it on the front cover. Despite being listed, and despite the opposition of the local residents' association, the Causeway Coast Consortium and the UAHS, planning permission has been granted to convert it into apartments (a bad enough fate for a very manageable and well-preserved house), and worse still for the addition of very damaging additional wings to the house which no doubt will benefit the developer's pocket but certainly detract from a fine building.
For more information on Seaport, see the extract
from our publications.
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Click for more details...
Although Dunloe Ewart's plan is not the "preferred scheme" of the Belfast Regeneration Office (MDC's at Victoria Square is), the developers have acquired so much property in the area over the last few years that they are able to propose extensive development even without the luxury of vesting powers. A complex sequence of planning applications has now been lodged involving the demolition of much of North Street and Rosemary Street, with multi-storey developments overshadowing the important Assembly Rooms (latterly the Northern Bank) at the junction of Waring Street and Donegall Street. The Society has lodged strong objections to it. The height of the development, the loss of the "fine grain" of small building units, and the demolition of buildings contributing to the character of the conservation area all render the proposals undesirable. The Society has worked in support of the Belfast Civic Trust, which is also strongly opposed to this development but concentrating on the economic arguments against it.
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The Society is delighted that five of the Belfast Areas of Townscape Character have been upgraded to conservation area status. Malone, Somerton, Cyprus Avenue, King's Road and Knockdene have all been coming under intense pressure for apartment development. Protection of their character was proving impossible without the statutory tools to defend the demolition of perfectly sound Victorian and Edwardian houses. Now demolition will require conservation area consent and we trust that the late 19th and early 20th century buildings which typify these areas and their mature gardens will be retained.
The Society objected to an application for demolition of a pair
of fine mid-Victorian two storey houses at 18-20 Wellington Park
in the new Malone conservation area. The application is to put
eleven apartments on the site, and under the old ATC such an application
would have been hard to refuse, despite the quality and condition
of the existing buildings. Another application to develop arpartments
at an adjacent site is currently the subject of a planning appeal
where the Society has now been represented at four days of hearings.
These are crucial tests of the new designation.
If you share our view that such buildings should not be demolished,
remember that your opinion matters. The more objections
the planners receive to an application the more likely they are
to refuse it, and the easier they will find it to defend such
a decision. You should write or e-mail the Belfast Planning Office,
giving one or more reasons for your objection, and quoting the
application number Z/2000/1914.
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Plans by the Harbour Authority to extend the existing
quay frontage and area of hard standing by reclaiming the Warrenpoint
Old Town Dock area have been received with great dismay by local
residents and the Society. The debate about the future of the
historic 18th century dock will take place in the form of a public
inquiry starting in early September at the Town Hall and is set
to run for a couple of weeks.
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Click here for more details
The MDC mixed use scheme was selected
by the Department for Social Development as the preferred development
for Belfast city centre (it was competing with Ewart's North
Street proposals and another at Queen Street) and MDC has
said that they intend "to retain or restore most of the original
architecture around the square". Sadly, they probably mean
Churchill House, but we trust that WJ Gilliland's fine warehouse
at nos.36-40 and the long established Kitchen Bar will also be
incorporated in the proposals to regenerate this much neglected
area. The Kitchen Bar catered for performers at the Empire Theatre
next door, but it is still thriving and would provide a strong
tangible link with the history of the area.
January 2002: The Society was represented at most of the week-long
Inquiry into the DSD proposals. Although we put forward a detailed
proposal for preservation of the Kitchen Bar, Telfair's Entry,
McErvel's warehouse, Abercorn Buildings, Ross's Court and several
buildings in Ann Street, the fact that virtually nothing in the
area is listed did not help our case. The fact that the entire
area is part of a conservation area seems to be being ignored.
The report is expected to take some months.
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A highly ambitious restoration has recently been completed by UAHS member Noel Killen, who acquired the derelict and partially collapsed six-storey rubble-stone corn mill at Ballydugan outside Downpatrick some ten years ago, and has painstakingly restored it in his spare time. Some of us claim to have restored a building meaning we have employed a builder to restore it, but Noel is a builder himself and has personally repaired windows and staircases and reslated the enormous building.
The Mill was built in 1792 by John Auchinleck of Strangford, and has an unusual stone-walled forecourt and gate-house, making it look like a Plantation tower-house.
It is now open as a restaurant and tourist accommodation, and was described in a recent restaurant review in the Belfast Telegraph as "stunning and unique", with "spectacular views of the surrounding countryside" from the eighth floor balcony. An added attraction to some of us is that the restaurant is non-smoking, and there is no piped music in the restaurant.
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Upper Crescent and its counterpart in Lower Crescent are part of the Queen's University Conservation Area in Belfast. Together with the park behind Crescent Church they form probably the best example of Regency-style town planning in the city, and they were complete until a few years ago.
Unfortunately listed building consent was given for the demolition of the listed terrace at 4-6 Upper Crescent Belfast (William Hastings, 1869), despite the building being generally sound and still in use. It had been owned by the University, and the Society initiated a motion at the University Convocation in 1997 calling on Queen's to review the decision to demolish it. There was unanimous support for a resolution requiring Queen's to institute a conservation policy for its buildings but it was too late to save nos.4-6, which had been transferred to a separate company called Lennoxvale Estates. The terrace was subsequently replaced with a modern office building.
This summer the corner building between Upper Crescent and University Road has been gutted, although the façade is to be retained, and the neighbouring building on University Road has been demolished. As can be seen from Marcus Patton's 1996 sketch of nos.1-3 (above), facade retention will retain only a small part of the character of this building, of which the roofscape and extraordinary narrow gable were essential components.
The Society is of the opinion that these demolitions have been unnecessary and detract from a unique group of buildings, which should have been protected by both listing and conservation area status.
Postscript February 2001: We are pleased to see that chimney stacks have now been added to the building, albeit they are only dummies as only the facade of the building was retained, and one prominent stack has not been reinstated. Chimneys are vital to the character of this Victorian conservation area, and with the new emphasis on ventilation in building regulations, they can provide an important role in generating air movement in buildings.
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Environment and Heritage Service has announced a suspension of all historic buildings grants, backdated to October 1999. The reason given is that there has been a "four-fold increase in applications" over the last four years, and that commitments exceed available resources.
While the UAHS can understand the concerns that led to this decision, it believes that funding should be brought back as soon as possible, and has lobbied government for an increase in the budget for historic buildings to enable this. It also believes that a wholesale suspension might have been avoided by selective or even temporarily reduced application of grant. Cynics have also pondered the administrative cost of notifying each individual listed building owner of the suspension, regardless of whether they were contemplating works, and wondered how many more grants might have been paid out if that had not been done.
HB grants are a drop in the ocean of government expenditure, but they lever a great deal of private investment and make a very real contribution to the efforts made by owners to maintain buildings that give pleasure to thousands of others, attract tourism and investment, provide employment for skilled craftsmen, and happen to provide useful housing or workspace on top of all that.
The grants have since been reinstated, but to avoid any possibility of overspend in future the EHS has set up a system of offering grants only within specific financial years, and require completely fresh applications for any schemes which have fallen behind. This sounds like excellent housekeeping, but just as a cook who practices rigid weekly menus cannot cope with either an unexpected guest or a visitor who doesn't arrive when planned, it doesn't make any allowances for the vagaries of building work. Some projects move faster than expected, while many others are delayed in the planning system, or meet legal or funding problems, or involve a builder who has too much else on his plate. Some flexibility would be welcome.
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Donald Girvan, a founding member of the UAHS, author of many of its early lists, and a stalwart campaigner for the buildings of the North Coast, died in June. He was active in planning campaigns for many years, and was one of the Society's most reliable planning monitors. Indeed, the campaign to save Portrush Town Hall (see below) derived much of its impetus from Donald's concerns and scholarship. He will be sadly missed by his many friends, but the humorous and touching tribute paid to him at his funeral by Prof Alistair Rowan brought back a sense of a very remarkable personality.
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The UAHS has been campaigning for some years to prevent the demolition of this fine Victorian building on the seafront at Portrush, and was relieved when planning permission for its demolition by Coleraine Borough Council was refused at the end of 1999. Not unexpectedly, Coleraine BC appealed the decision, and the appeal was heard in April 2000. More details available.
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In July 1999 an attractive building at the corner of Botanic Avenue and Mount Charles was pulled down over the course of a weekend, despite warnings from the planners that such demolition would be illegal.
The owners had applied for a new building on the site and tried to pre-empt the decision by demolishing the existing one. So far the DoE appears to be adhering to its stated intention to prosecute the owner for wilful demolition, but it was unable to prosecute while an appeal to the Planning Appeals Commission was pending. The UAHS had objected to the original proposals, arguing that the building was perfectly capable of re-use, and we were delighted to learn (June 2000) that the PAC has upheld the planners' decision and confirmed that not only was the demolition illegal, but that the proposed replacement building was also not acceptable. While this does not restore the protected building, it does indicate that developers who pre-empt planning decisions will not necessarily be allowed to build on their sites as they might wish.
Postscript February 2001: Planning permission has now been granted for a new building on the site, and work has commenced. Nevertheless we understand that the court prosecution for illegal demolition is still proceeding.
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The UAHS is very concerned at the outcome of a recent planning appeal against refusal to demolish nos. 41-43 Waring Street, a six bay four-storey stucco building on a stone plinth, with varied windows at each level and a balcony with guilloche parapet. Many buildings in this area were flattened during the blitz in 1941, and any survivals are very important. The site is adjacent to the grade A listed Ulster Bank, and will compromise the setting of the listed building. Demolition was permitted on the basis that a replica facade would be acceptable.
The UAHS believes that the arguments put forward
by PAC for allowing the demolition were seriously flawed. In particular,
they suggested that "the building is not listed and... does
not contribute significantly to the essential character and appearance
of the CA". The point of CAs is to protect buildings which
are not of listable quality but which contribute to the historic
or architectural character of the area. The lack of listing therefore
was not a material factor, but the age and style of the building
certainly was.
A Victorian building will surely always contribute more to a Victorian
conservation area (as the Cathedral area essentially is) than
any modern replica. If every building that did not "contribute
significantly" to a conservation area was demolished at the
whim of a developer, we would soon have a bogus streetscape that
might as well be situated in Disneyland. While design quality
is one factor for designating a conservation area, its historic
period and development is at least as important, and the survival
of genuine buildings is crucial.
And if the PAC does not consider the facade to contribute to the
character of the CA, why is it insisting on a replica being constructed?
See UAHS Central Belfast for further details of the building.
Postscript: The building has not been demolished despite the PAC ruling, but was put on the market in October 2000 as an "attractive building". Perhaps there is hope for it after all.
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Nos.58-60 Bedford Street (which is the beginning of the Dublin Road) was a warehouse built about 1892 for the handkerchief manufacturers Gribbon Bros, a six-storey (originally four) red brick warehouse with stucco features and a curved corner to Ormeau Avenue, some chimneys rising to become chimneys above the parapet. Click on the icon for an enlarged photo of it taken in October 1999.
Despite lying in the Linen conservation area, it was demolished during March 2000.
It is described in the UAHS book on Central Belfast, and can be seen in Hogg photo H10/29/60.
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The UAHS is concerned at the recent spate of approved demolitions within Conservation Areas.
A particularly damaging one was the loss of McAllister's shop in Cushendall, a major element of Shore Street and close to the centre of the village. It is the white building in the attached photograph, which has been demolished and is being replaced with a two storey "replica".
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