Next steps in shop demolition
Published on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
A high street shop in Bishop Auckland, which suffered a significant roof collapse in the autumn, is to be demolished in the New Year.
Mothercare on Newgate Street has been closed since the incident in September and Durham County Council has been on site to prevent further collapse and protect the public. Now the council, which owns the building, will start a staged and controlled complete demolition of the premises in January, subject to the completion of legal formalities.
Stuart Timmiss, head of planning and assets at Durham County Council, said: “We have worked with local businesses and listened to their concerns and as a result we are waiting until after the busy festive period to start this work.
“A great deal of preparation has taken place on site to make sure that the building’s demolition can be carried out in a controlled way.
“This is important for a number of reasons. Firstly we want to protect the public from any falling debris and secondly it’s crucial that we establish the cause of the initial collapse.
“We can only do this by taking the damaged building apart carefully and experts from a number of parties will be on site to oversee this work.
“I very much hope that, once this task is complete, we will be far better placed to judge why the roof caved in the way it did.”
Structural engineers have been appointed to assess the debris and will be on-site throughout the demolition process in order to establish the cause of the original collapse.
Once the demolition is complete neighbouring shops WH Smith and Phones 4 U will be able to reopen, subject to the required surveys. The council is continuing to work with these businesses in the meantime.
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