Crooked Pub

securespark said:
So why didn't the owner just demolish it?
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He did. He presumably thought the fire gave him enough reason to do it.

The ones around me had the same MO. Fire at night making it "structurally unsound", demolished by sunrise as an act of protecting the public.

The council did dig their heels in and he was prosecuted for some planning/building offence. The council then refused all new proposals, the owner went bust, and we have had an eyesore of a gap site for the last 20 years.
 
I bet the owner will get permisssion to build a new hotel or housing complex, as long as the government can use it for the invasion of young fighting age men coming over. :unsure:

Andy
 
Brigadier said:
Boring tidbit:


The great Dudley earthquake of 2002 had its epicentre under Brick Kiln Lane (the lane on which the Crooked House pub is/was).
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Heard the dudley earth quake caused millions of pounds in improvements ;)
 
When we were looking for the house we now have, I kept seeing empty pubs and shops. I looked into buying one and converting into a house, the situation is that councils are extremely resistant to this change of use. You have to prove that it's not a viable business, e.g. by losing a ton of money by trading at a loss for however long, or by offering it for reasonable rent for a long period of time and proving that nobody asked about it. Even then, they often want you to look at alternative "community" uses, e.g. a dance studio, gym etc. We looked at a long disused church too, there were so many stipulations that we pulled out of buying it.

Presumably the owner is hoping that a bare patch of land is more likely to get permission to change into houses than an existing pub.

Planning permission would have been required for demolition, which would have been refused...

Planning Permission - Demolition - Planning Portal

demolition, planning permission, permitted development, building regulations, demolish a building
www.planningportal.co.uk www.planningportal.co.uk

Pubs or other drinking establishments – An application for full planning permission is required to demolish pubs or other drinking establishments, including those with expanded food provision.

So there's an obvious motive in burning it down, as it's more valuable as bare land.

The unintended consequence of all the protective policies is that these protected buildings are being neglected and abandoned, even if they're not being burnt down.
 
Here in London they remove a few roof tiles and let it rot for a year or so.
Pigeons start nesting and the roof caves in pretty quickly, despite the tropical climate we have now because of climate change...
Then, as the structure is unsafe, they're given permission to demolish and build "affordable homes", aka shoeboxes used as dormitories and sold for £300k per studio flat (25 square metres).
 
Said on the news last night that the young woman that bought it is connected to a man with the same name who owns the adjacent landfill site.
 
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