Campaigners are urging Salford City Council to reject plans to demolish the historic Black Horse Hotel in Salford.
Ordsall-born Betfred billionaire Fred Done’s company Property (Done) Limited put in plans to build 405 flats on the site of the derelict Victorian pub back in November 2015.
This was later dropped to 399 flats spread across three buildings: a six storey block that fronts the busy A6 Crescent, a 17 storey block that runs parallel to Gaythorne Street and Oldfield Road, and the tallest tower, a 22-storey block dubbed ‘Crescent Courtyard’ which would sit back from the Crescent.
But the developer wants to demolish the Black Horse to build its 22-storey tower block.
The Victorian Society said it had “rarely seen such an unsympathetic and inappropriate proposal”.
The pub’s distinctive red-brick facade adds enough to the Crescent Conservation area that it should be saved altogether, say Salford council.
“The majority of its internal fabric is lost or beyond repair…Its external features remain, albeit in poor state of
repair. It does though contribute to the streetscape and to the character and appearance of the conservation.”
But worrying signs popping up in the planning documents seem to suggest the council will back the demolition of the historic building: “…decision-makers considering harm to heritage assets cannot simply treat the desirability of preserving the setting of a listed building as a mere material consideration…”
The Victorian Society is urging Salford City Council to reject the plans when they come before Thursday’s Planning and Transportation Regulatory Panel.
Fred Done has already had success with an historic Salford pub-turned-flats development with the 380-apartment tower blocks approved by Salford council on the Grade-II listed Black Friars pub .
The Black Horse is not Grade listed, but does appear on the council’s own Local List, marking it out as being of particular architectural or historical merit.
Historic England objected to the plans, saying “the proposal in its current form would have a harmful impact”.
James Hughes, Senior Victorian Society Conservation adviser said: “It’s inconceivable that an experienced and skilled architect couldn’t develop a plan for the site that incorporates the Black Horse Hotel alongside an appropriate – and viable – housing development.
“This is a large site with huge scope for redevelopment. Salford Council should push for a far more appropriate scheme that actually complies with local and national planning policy.”
Close up, the pub is in a sorry state.
Paint peels from the exterior while plants from from rotted wood in boarded-up windows.
This 1916 story by Tony Flynn tells a little more of the history of the place.
The Pevsner architectural guide notes the ‘enjoyable carvings in the ground-floor keystones’ which include the heads of a horse, a satyr and Bacchus.
Hughes continued: “This development is not sustainable, fails to preserve or enhance the character of the conservation area and is contrary to both local and national policy and legislation on the historic environment.
“The harm caused by the locally listed Hotel’s demolition would be compounded by the proposed new buildings.
“The height and massing of the towers would be wholly at odds with the scale and appearance of existing buildings within the conservation area and would harm the setting of the listed buildings.
“The very high level of harm this scheme would cause cannot be justified and Salford Council should refuse consent.”
Salford City Council’s Planning and Transportation Regulatory Panel meet on Thursday 7 April at council headquarters, Swinton Civic Centre on Chorley Road.
Main image: Black Horse Hotel by Keith Rheade via Flickr
