A COUNCIL is to bulldoze a former pub it paid £410,000 for ‑ then did nothing with for nine years.
Salford council bought the Victorian Langworthy Hotel in 2000 as part of a masterplan to regenerate the area.
At the time they told the M.E.N the building was 'of great character at the heart of Seedley and Langworthy, and its future will be as an integral part of the new urban village centre's revitalization'.
Now it has emerged the pub is to be knocked down after the town hall rejected the idea of turning it into a facility for the community.
The city's Strategic Director for Sustainable Regeneration, Paul Walker, has approved the demolition.
An internal e-mail seen by the M.E.N says a number of options were considered.
They included doing nothing, which was dismissed as it was decided action was needed to 'safeguard the city's investment' in the area.
External repair was ruled out as too costly.
Not viable
The e-mail added that after two unsuccessful marketing attempts and approaches by potential investors that came to nothing, it became apparent the hotel was not a viable development opportunity.
A suggestion by the Seedley and Langworthy Trust to get funding to turn it into a community facility was turned down as work could not start for 18 months even if funding was secured.
Demolition was considered the best option as it 'would improve the attractiveness of the site to potential investors'.
The e-mail says demolition will now take place at the 'earliest opportunity'.
The town hall paid £350,000 for the building in 2000 – plus an extra £60,000 in compensation to a businessman who had paid just £70,000 for it four years earlier.
Today the council was condemned for wasting taxpayers' money.
Liberal Democrat councillor for the area Lynn Drake said: “I am angry about this. I was not consulted before the decision was made.
“There have been a number of ideas over the years for the building. A theatre group wanted to turn it into a facility for youngsters and the Seedley and Langworthy Trust had proposed a cafe and organic food shop for it.
Historical importance
“It is locally listed as a building of historical importance. It is a landmark in Langworthy and I think that after paying so much for it the council should have made more of an effort to put it to a good community use.
“It is a shocking waste of taxpayers' money.”
The council paid for the building with a £1.5m grant from the North West Development Agency, which was used to buy a number of buildings.
The hotel, a target for arsonists and protection racketeers, closed in 1993 after a thug walked in with a sawn-off shotgun and blasted the ceiling.
In 1994 Whitbread put it on the market for £120,000, but two years later reduced it to the knock-down price of £70,000.
The pub was opened by Threlfalls brewery in 1900 and was described as being 'beautifully decorated with the best billiard room in the borough'.
Liberal Democrats are now lobbying English Heritage in a last ditch attempt to get the building listed.
Council to bulldoze £410,000 pub
November 28, 2009
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Other people's money wasted by incompetents on fat pensions paid for by other people's money.
"The pub was opened by Threlfalls brewery in 1900 and was described as being 'beautifully decorated with the best billiard room in the borough". Oh how I would love a time machine and go back to the opening night! I can picture the place, inside and out, all the gentry, the bartenders and the newly built and decorated interior. Back then, they had style.
The best way to improve the area is to get the bulldoser to continue along Langworthy Road knocking down everything in its way
I'm afraid this is the typical footloose profligacy of nulabour controlled councils. I doesn't matter what it cost, the council taxpayer foots the bill for their sheer incompetence and wasteful bureaucracy.
The idiots who sanctioned this should be sacked, then prosecuted for wasting public funds, then have their own assets seized to offset the cost of their crass incompetence.
Salford City Council yet again; can they not do anything right?
Salford Council, what an abysmal lack of imagination. Yes knock it down and let some cheapskate developer (friend of the Council) build another featureless, bland square box!!
This useless council!!!!
Sell it to Peel Holdings!!!!
They own everything else in town.
'Director for Sustainable Regeneration' ..a smoke screen title given to someone who hasn't got a proper definable and accountable job, but has a huge salary and generous pension paid for by you and I, aka the tax payers.
Salford Council yet again, last week it was the destruction of the green belt between Eccles and Irlam with one road in and out and already congested, clueless Nu-Labour buffoons at their best.
They are not the only ones. Manchester Council use compulsory purchase for a pub in Crumpsall after they refused to sell for 1.5 million. The demolished it to make way for a new shopping centre and Tesco. The shopping centre has fewer shops than the previous shopping centre with many units remaining empty 12 months after being built (would YOU want to compete with tesco?) and instead we lost established businesses in the area, a graveyard was dug up for a carpark, a street was diverted and made one-way, and another street was closed altogether aming it difficult for people who can't walk very far to reach other shops. But then, the voters don't count as they're not the ones with big money and working for the ordinary people doesn't get you the knighthoods that working for big business gets you.
Knocking down yet another historic building? Salford the birmingham of the north.... without the bull ring, well it will be if thay dont do something soon, whole areas of salford look like war zones, places like higher broughton with some lovley old building are left to rot, nothings ever done. Its the old buildings that make an area atractive thay give an area charater, I live in hulme where mancester city council have comprehensivly knocked everything old down, its bland ugly and the noddy houses thay put up 15 years ago look past it already, salford council needs to pull its socks up!
Everyone is having a moan and rightly so there is only one thing to do and give them the red card come the elections in May by continually voting them in you are saying more of the same please. I think in the May elections all the councillors who were for the congestion charge are up for re-election now you good people of Salford have two reasons to vote these dinosaurs out.
SALFORD say no more ??
'It may be 33 years' you are spot on. This bunch of useless labour councillors gets voted in time after time dispite their complete incompetance. Even the most socially deprived moron must be able to see through the smokescreen and bull that this bunch of councill misfits continually come up with to waste OUR, (NOT THEIR) hard earned money.
Get it declared a Grade One Listed Building of Great Historical Importance to the area. That should stop their vandalism.
"Demolition was considered the best option as it 'would improve the attractiveness of the site to potential investors'."
So they can put up another bland modern box instead?
I agree with the LibDems. It should be restored for the community.
PK Murphy Middleton Manchester
Any kind of individuality whether it be a building or an opinion of a person that goes against the grain does not go down well amongst any authority that leans to the left. If you don't believe me, spend some time in eastern Europe, talk to the people and look at the post war modern buildings.
There should be a private sector AND a public sector, but never should the twain ever meet.
Why do Salford City Council constantly buy land and property and then sell to developers at a loss.They lost millions over the years just selling off land for car parks, never mind the land they sold for houses and also lost revenue.
'Director for Sustainable Regeneration'
What on earth is one of them when it's at home? Do they mean a planning officer.
Salford Council, what an abysmal lack of imagination. Yes knock it down and let some cheapskate developer build another featureless, bland square box!!
Mark, South Manchester
My thoughts exactly Mark. The deal was probably done before the council first finagled the finds to buy the building - probably in hushed tones and over drinks. salford council make me sick. About the only thing our city has going for it is its absolutely remarkable history and all they do is tear it down to make way for bland yuppie flats that locals cannot afford (while at the same time pushing up the price of previously affodable homes).
I wonder if one day it will have upside down houses or some other crap on the plot, lived in by BBC staff from London?!??
Salford City Council strikes once again!
This is totally outrageous. Salford Council are almost bancrupt and yet still continue to pay out on "hair Brained" schemes. This building although once beautiful would now be considered cost effective to save and therefore demolition will probably go ahead. Peel Holding would probably not be interested - they are not interested in that area of Salford although Urban Splash bought a huge portion of the terraced streets in Seedly and turned them into "upside down" houses.
We can only hope that however much is made in selling this property that the powers that be should have to make up any shortfall from their own budgets!
Job losses from the top please!!
Surely it could be used once more. These grand old buildings have a solid structure. A community centre would be ideal.
What a disgrace, SCC at its best once again pulling down and demolishing ever last piece of history...where are the local councillors, they know the building is the only one of its kind left on Langworthy Rd. It has historical value and would make a fantastic decent sized venue for conferences and workshops. There are plenty of voluntary sector organisations that could make good use of it given half the chance. Why doesnt the council give it over to the voluntary sector, and WHY deosnt the government MAKE them...their white papers always claim that they want the community to have assets and ownership of this type of building. A Voluntary organisation could apply for loads of different pots of money to refurb it and it would be a real live community asset , Cant the MEN set up a petition to save it?
Urban splash moved off when the money ran out leaving a row unfinished and now an eyesore facing Langworthy Road. The Hotel was paid for with European money from the NWDA, any money the council would have made on the building upto the £410,000 paid out would have to go back to the NWDA, so its a no win situation, the building structually is unsafe inside, I have been in and seen it, plus there is a massive problem with an old boiler caked in Asbestos which will make the demolition very expensive. I am very sorrt and sad to see it the way it is and its plight I have had many happy memories in the past in there, but times are a changing and soon thanks to a small minority most pubs in Salford will be shut.