WARRINGTON Civic Society has welcomed the decision by the borough council to purchase the old Garnett’s Cabinet works site which has fallen into disrepair in recent years.
The Civic Society sees the purchase as being in the best interests of the town and look forward to a sensitive development of the Conservation Area site.
Chairman John Shipley said: “We are confident that the full planning process will be followed and that the change in ownership will bring an improved approach to the security and safety of the buildings.”
Warrington Borough Council’s executive board unanimously approved a plan for Warrington & Co to buy the currently unused site in Warrington town centre, which features the iconic Garnett’s Water Tower feature on the town’s skyline.
It was necessary to buy this site as part of the wider developments on Time Square and Bridge Street but also as a matter of public safety as the building had fallen into considerable disrepair.
All funds used to buy the site will come from Warrington Borough Council’s capital funding programme.
The site has steadily fallen into disrepair under the ownership of Scotland based PTS Property services.
Earlier this year a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured after falling off the roof of the building.
Picture Chris Digita
Picture Karin Dakin
1 Comment
Could the council not have bought it for a lesser amount under a compulsory purchase order due to the fact that the owners (PTS) have not made any effort to make it safe and secure form un-authorised access and vandalism or to take steps to stop it falling further into disrepair over the years they have owned it?
Seems to me it is in a developers interest to buy property (even listed ones) then just leave them to rot knowing that sooner or later the council may have visions for an area and give them big bucks in return for a sale or simply allow demolition due to safety grounds.
I wonder how long it will be until this building, along with the landmark tower, will be knocked down now the council own it.
I’d like to hope the council would have the vision and money available to renovate it all for some other use but I very much doubt that will happen due to the huge costs involved in renovation considering the state it’s all in now 🙁