THE former Bay Leaf Indian Restaurant site which was destroyed during a suspected arson attack on Tuesday had been bought by housing group Torus the previous week.
North West Housing Group Torus, which include’s Warrington based Golden Gates Housing, completed the purchase of land at Harpers Road, Padgate from Lane End Developers.
Torus has been working closely with the emergency services to understand the full extent of damage caused by the fire to both the site and buildings in the surrounding area. The Local Authority gave approval to demolish the fire damaged former Bay Leaf Indian Restaurant immediately for health and safety reasons.
A spokesperson for Torus said: “Our priorities are to secure the site, make it safe and to keep local people informed.
“We would urge anybody with any information about the cause of the fire to contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 736.”
Torus is a group structure made up of Merseyside housing association Helena Partnerships and Warrington housing association Golden Gates. Formed in 2015, Torus owns more than 22,000 homes across Merseyside and Cheshire.
Police and fire investigation officers believe the fire was started deliberately and children were reported running away from the building shortly before the blaze.
7 Comments
Nowt suspicious there then.
We have to hope not.
Approval was given to demolish immediately for health and safety reasons.
Was there asbestos in this building? If so, was there any agreement in the sale re who would foot the cost of it’s removal? To what extent did the price paid reflect the value of the building before and after the fire? these are questions I would be asking.
Why do ‘kids’, despite lack of motive, always seem to be the prime suspects? ‘Kids’ were blamed for the fire at Mr Smiths, then released without charge. The real culprits were never brought to justice.
We do seem to have more than our fair share of arsonists in this town. Almost on a daily basis there are reports of wheelie bins and the like “spontaneously” catching fire, or requiring the attention of the Fire Brigade. As you say SHA, buildings about to be demolished or scheduled for development conveniently combust and no one is ever brought to book. Is there a fire raising Culture in the town or do these incidents amount to no more than an unfortunate set of coincidences?
I don’t think that there is a link between wheelie bin fires and arson attacks on listed buildings and potential development sites POSITRON……unless of course the wheelie bin is situated right next to the latter!
But there definitely seems to be a link between ‘incidents of spontaneous combustion’ and listed buildings and potential development sites.
Also, you only have to google ‘arson asbestos’ to see there is a definite link here.
These links are far too frequent to be just ‘unfortunate coincidences’.
Warrington is not the only town with increasing numbers of these types of fires, the reason for this is probably the leniency of the planning depts in dealing with the aftermath. Almost always these incidents of ‘spontaneous combustion’ result in increased profits for owners/ developers. As seems also the case with ‘incidences of demolition without consent’ and ‘accidental damage resulting in demolition’.
Whilst Warrington (and a good number of other councils) do not seem to value heritage buildings or be concerned with increasing numbers of arson attacks on potential development sites, some authorities do however take steps to actively discourage ‘profit generating damage’ . A good example is Maida Vale – when their Carlton Tavern was demolished without consent, the owners were forced to re-build it brick for brick to exactly as it had been prior to demolition. This enforcement was upheld by the planning inspectorate and must surely be now effective in reducing incidents of damage (by whatever means).
If other authorities can do this why can’t Warrington? A commitment to preventing profiteering from damage to our heritage buildings would go a long way to proving Warrington is a worthy candidate for the City of Culture award.
I fear WBC’s collective tally of indifference to the preservation of heritage buildings is too far gone to bring them into the reckoning as a worthy candidate for the CoC bid on that score SHA. Notwithstanding their attempt to right years (nay, decades) of wrongs by now belatedly restoring the “suddenly discovered” heritage stables at Walton Hall and Gardens. Why has it taken almost 10 years, after The Friends of Walton Hall saved that heritage asset from what the then or previous council planned for it, to bring them to light? A cynic might say the CoC bid might be the trigger.
What utter tosh, this building had no protection orders or listings but still the flat earthers amongst us devise their own little conspiracy theories, like always. News flash, kids do play with fire and make fires and unused buildings are one of the chosen places to do this. Get a life or better still get some evidence before you share your nonsense.