Pub knocked down as deadline nears
AFIRE-DAMAGED Skelmersdale pub has been knocked down weeks before permission allowing its demolition was due to lapse.
The former Birch Green Hotel, on Flordon, was torn down this week to make way for homes and retail units.
An application from developer Berrington Hall Ltd to transform the site was granted permission in December 2016 but included a condition that works must begin within three years.
That period was due to elapse in early December, meaning the planning permission would have been vacated.
However, some mystery still surrounds the future of the site as, according to
Companies House, Berrington Hall has since gone bust. When contacted by the Advertiser, the planning consultants who assisted with the application declined to comment on who is now responsible for the site.
The pub was last used in 2014 and was in the process of being converted to an Indian restaurant when it was targeted by arsonists and suffered significant damage.
After the fire, it went to auction in 2014 where it was bought by Berrington
Hall and no subsequent interest was shown in the re-use of the site for a pub or restaurant.
It has lain empty ever since and become a magnet for trespassing and vandalism, as well as again being torched in 2017.
Plans approved in 2016 allowed permission for demolition, followed by the construction of a fourstorey ‘L’-shaped building featuring ground floor shops and 18 flats. The original application stated the community would benefit through the loss of an eyesore, additional housing availability and new shops and services in the retail units.