Loftus chapel site set to be sold after High Court battle

Redcar and Cleveland Council lost a High Court battle with brewer Samuel Smith after the latter challenged the demolition of the Arlington Chapel and schoolhouse in Loftus in a judicial review.

The council was forced to pay £87,250 after a settlement and legal costs were awarded to the company whose lawyers successfully argued planning permission should have been sought rather than the council just relying on powers under the 1984 Building Act to demolish it.

The total bill to date of the chapel project, including acquiring the property from private ownership in November 2021, releasing a charge on it and legal fees, has been put at £721,743, although the majority of it has been funded as a result of £650,000 secured from the Tees Valley Combined Authority’s indigenous growth fund.

The council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it intended to market the full 0.45 acre site later this year, having now cleared the majority of the structures within it.

Council officers previously described the chapel, which was adjacent to the Arlington Hotel, a vacant pub owned by Samuel Smith, as being in a “prominent gateway” location when entering Loftus on the A174 to the east with potential for future development.

It was determined to be in a dangerous condition, attracting anti-social behaviour, and could be used potentially for new social housing.The chapel before it was demolished (Image: Northern Echo)

In 2020 former Redcar and Cleveland Council leader Sue Jeffrey questioned whether the council’s plan for the site and the public money being used on it was value for money, while another former borough councillor Bob Norton, an ex-cabinet member for regeneration, described it as “nothing short of a vanity project”.

He said the spending on it should be investigated by the council’s auditor and suggested the building should have been made safe, or demolished, at the previous owner’s expense.

In his ruling last year High Court judge Mr Justice Lane found that section 78 of the Building Act, which empowers local authorities to take necessary steps to remove buildings or structures deemed to be dangerous, did not obviate the requirement for planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and he issued a declaration to that effect.

The council did not appeal the judgement.

The judge did, however, agree with the council’s position that the property was dangerous and refused to grant an injunction also being sought to stop the demolition.

Explaining its position, a council spokeswoman said: “The council was developing a planning application to clear the site in summer 2022 when a structural assessment – commissioned to support this application – expressed immediate concern over the condition of the building.  “The council took the decision to act swiftly in the interest of public safety when a second independent structural assessment backed up the finding of the first report.

The judgement was in the form of a declaration that planning permission is needed when using the Building Act 1984 to demolish a dangerous building.  “By the time the judgement was given the immediate danger which we were seeking to address had been removed.   “An appeal would have left us liable for more costs.”

She added: “Whilst the council accepts the court judgement and is disappointed by the award of legal costs, we are satisfied that we acted appropriately and in a proactive manner.

“The council has removed a derelict and dangerous building which was causing harm to nearby properties and was a blot on the Loftus landscape, further to this we will recycle the retained stone back into other ongoing projects in Loftus.

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“The council will look to market the site later in the year and hopefully attract further investment to Loftus.”

The chapel site was earmarked for potential housing in a masterplan for the town, which has seen more than £11m being allocated towards various council-backed regeneration schemes.

This includes £5.8m previously won from the Government’s Future High Streets Fund, £4.75m of indigenous growth funding from TVCA and £1m from the council.