‘Knock church down – before someone dies’
ANOTHER FIRE BREAKS OUT AT ABANDONED BUILDING
A Whitley Bay councillor has called for urgent action to be taken over a derelict church after it caught fire for the second time in three years.
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service was called at 9.53am on Sunday to reports of a blaze at the disused Trinity United Reform Church on Esplanade Place.
At its height, there were five crews, a command unit and two officers in attendance with smoke visible across the town. A road closure was put in place on Esplanade as firefighters fought flames at the front and side of the building.
Whitley Bay councillor John O’Shea has renewed his calls for the structure to be demolished, saying it could result in deaths if allowed to remain standing.
He said: “I have been pressing for a couple of years for this building to be demolished. It’s so unsightly and dangerous, it needs to be sorted out before there are any fatalities.
“The council needs to press on and go to court as quickly as possible to get the owners to demolish the building and make it safe.
“I would urge the property owner to look again at this and look towards getting it demolished.”
The church, which opened in 1900, has been vacant since May 2017 when it was ravaged by fire.
North Tyneside Council, whose staff have inspected the building since the latest fire, is in the process of taking legal action against the owner, but this has been appealed.
Phil Scott, the council’s head of environment, housing and leisure, said: “We are aware of a fire at the disused Trinity Church, in Whitley Bay, and we have council staff on site to assess the damage and make sure the structure is safe.
“We issued a notice last year under S79 of the Building Act asking the owners to improve the appearance of the building or, if they choose to do so, have it demolished.
“An appeal against this notice was lodged but has not yet been heard by the Magistrates’ Court because of Covid-19.
“We share residents’ frustrations with this site and desperately want to see it improved. Unfortunately, we can take no further action until this appeal has been heard.”
Plans have been submitted to the council to demolish the Trinity United Reform Church and replace it with 28 flats and apartments.
Documents submitted as part of the application said the fenced-off building is “structurally unsound” and has become blighted by vandalism.
A decision has yet to be made on the planning application.