Dorries backs destruction of local ‘monument’
NADINE DORRIES, the new Culture Secretary, has stripped an industrial landmark of protected status, paving the way for a new business park.
The Dorman Long Tower in Redcar was granted Grade II listed status following a local campaign to spare the 1950s landmark from being demolished.
But Ms Dorries has revoked the former coal store’s protected status after just days in the job following a government reshuffle, and only one week after the building was listed.
The change in status has paved the way for the landmark to be destroyed.
A letter from Ms Dorries to Historic England, responsible for granting listed status, said: “Its historic interest is primarily local in nature.”
It stated that the structure has “some degree of aesthetic interest” but added that “most buildings are in some way unique, which does not necessarily of itself make them of special interest”.
There are concerns among heritage experts that a policy of paving the way for redevelopment could lead to the review of other buildings saved from demolition by being listed such as the art deco Abbey Cinema in Liverpool, a favoured haunt of The Beatles.
On Sept 10, Historic England listed the Dorman Long tower due to the structure being a “celebrated example of early Brutalist architecture”, and a “nationally unique” building. While unused since the 1970s, Dr Tosh Warwick, a Teesside-born heritage adviser and historian, said the building, erected in 1955, “holds an allure for fans of the beauty on concrete”.
He added on the delisting of the building: “It’s going to happen again, especially when there’s money involved and developments involved. We are more than likely to see very similar scenarios in the very near future.
What this does suggest to me is that people wrongly assume that your building is safe and secure for future generations.”
The initial emergency decision to list the tower came on the same day Redcar and Cleveland council approved its demolition, citing “ongoing and irreversible” damage, and annual maintenance costs in the millions. The tower is due to be knocked down within days.
The move followed a push from Ben Houchen, Teesside Combined Authority’s Conservative mayor, to clear the way for the development of a business and industrial park, which is hoped could support 20,000 jobs as part of a £400 million project.
The application for demolition was lodged by South Tees Development Corporation, chaired by Mr Houchen, who said: “I would like to send a message to those that think trying to stop these developments is the right thing to do – our heritage does not lie in a rotting coal bunker, our heritage lies in the people that built this great region.”
Coal was stored in the tower and fed into the coke ovens which fuelled the blast furnace to make steel for Dorman Long, which helped build the Sydney Harbour and Tyne bridges.
Dr Warwick said: “It’s a large concrete monument, and it’s synonymous with the history and heritage of Teesside. It’s not spectacular, but it’s something that forms part of a broader story.”