A friend just posted this to me! No idea why they didn't just contact me! I have never hid my identity or how to contact me! Hopefully then they will attend the meeting. Still WAY at odds with ALL correspondence (provable) conversations I've had but maybe they CAN justify their position!!!!?!?!!!?!! hyperbole I am! Clearly an instigator that ruffles feathers too! Like the X-files the truth is out there (well shades of it).
http://www.britanniahotels.com/media/526877/lrfs_v_nov_dec12.pdf
London Road Police and Fire Station
Redevelopment Proposals
Image: Whitworth Street Elevation (Purcell)
[V]
November/December 2012 Update
Information on the Fire Station and the Recent Redevelopment History
There is a wealth of information on the recent history of the building and the
redevelopment proposals available as public documents to all with an interest in the
Fire Station.
One of the best sources of information up to recent times are the Inquiry documents
upon which the Planning Inspector recommended a rejection of Manchester City
Council’s attempted Compulsory Purchase.
The information enclosed within the Inquiry documents is from a variety of sources
and will give a full and balanced view.
CPO Inquiry
It was on the recommendation of the Inspector in charge of the Inquiry that the
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government rejected the CPO.
An Order as to Costs was subsequently issued and Britannia is to be awarded its
costs of the Inquiry from Manchester City Council.
Whilst satisfied that the not inconsiderable Inquiry costs are to be paid by
Manchester City Council, it should be pointed out that Britannia will not profit from
the CPO and will not be able to recover all its resources (and time) spent
unnecessarily in dealing with the Council’s pursuit of the CPO.
This has also delayed the availability of Britannia’s funds which should have been
directed into developing the hotel business and creating jobs. 2
Progress since the Inquiry
Britannia has not rested on its laurels since the Inquiry.
We have been actively seeking to progress the redevelopment proposals, with the
guidance of our expert Conservation Architects, through the demanding procedures
that the Local Authority require for a sensitive site such as this.
We have had a number of meetings and have been in communication with
Manchester City Council and English Heritage so both organisations have been
made aware of the current position.
With the scale and sensitivity of this building, the finances of the scheme do not
justify the redevelopment based purely on a commercial decision. It remains reliant
on private funding.
The commitment made at Inquiry, however, to fund the capital cost, remains
unchanged, but the redevelopment must put into place a sustainable business to
ensure its continued success.
Manchester has seen far too many hotel projects fail, even in recent months (some
with the direct financial involvement of the Local Authority) and we have a duty to
ensure that this project is not added to that list.
With the continued poor performance of the economy (and that of the hotel sector in
particular), we approached English Heritage and the Council, following the Inquiry, to
discuss a possible further intervention to gain a few more rooms to increase the
revenue of the scheme as approved. This was incorrectly interpreted and publicised
as an attempt to resurrect the previously abandoned multi-storey scheme.
Britannia met with representatives of the Chief Executives office, the Planning
Department and English Heritage in an attempt to open dialogue between the parties
to explore and guide the emerging proposals.
It should be noted that the Council’s sole potential partner developers, RAM Argent,
submitted a statement during the CPO Inquiry, which was accepted by the Local
Authority, which outlined their intention to re-visit the proposals to further investigate
the maximising of the potential of the site following a CPO.
We have arrived at our proposal through a similar, iterative, process.
Britannia’s Directors also met separately with the Leader of the Council in a further
attempt to garner support from the Council.
During a more recent update meeting, MCC Planning, MCC Conservation and
English Heritage all stated that they were pleased that noted Conservation
Architects, Purcell, remain involved on this project.
With the support of Purcell and our financial team, a package of information in regard
to the relatively minor additional enabling intervention has been submitted to MCC
with a view to hopefully gain their support and help us to bring this project to fruition. 3
LRFS in the Media
The redevelopment of the former London Road Police and Fire Station is a sensitive
and important project and it has been Britannia’s policy not to respond to articles
which are opinion pieces or PR exercises.
It is disappointing, however, that there are news articles that include information that
is factually incorrect and do not show a reasonable understanding of the building or
the issues surrounding the redevelopment proposals.
Although we understand that there is a vast quantity of information on this subject, it
is available on public record to those with an interest.
We have felt it necessary to express our disappointment to Manchester City Council
in the way that our efforts to progress are met and portrayed publicly, following
statements released to the press, as we have been clear with MCC and English
Heritage about our intentions.
Recent articles (Manchester Evening News 17 and 18 December 2012, for example)
expose the level of regard that MCC hold for Britannia and its ambitions for the
building, using language that can only be described as confrontational and contrary.
This doesn’t bode well and we are preparing ourselves for a hard ride with this
redevelopment, but it is still hoped that Manchester City Council will act in a positive
manner with regard to our proposals.
We also note the recent personal campaign and petition to have Manchester City
Council bring forward a new CPO for the former Police and Fire Station on London
Road. Although we recognise the campaigner’s obvious passion for this fine
building, key facts are either not known or omitted from the campaign and the
petition notes are selective in their choice of source material and they are
accompanied by a certain level of hyperbole throughout.
Britannia
What is often ignored is Britannia’s track record in regard to the refurbishment of
Listed Buildings. Thirteen of Britannia’s hotels are buildings Listed Grade II or II*
(see elsewhere on this website for more information).
Whilst other national hotel groups have either gone into administration, into the
control of the banks or put up for sale, Britannia Hotels remain a successful company
and a large employer both locally and nationally and Britannia also remains one of
the few hotel groups to be expanding in the current financial climate.
Britannia has already invested a huge amount of money and has allocated
considerable resources into maintaining the building and bringing the proposals
forward and it can only be in everyone’s interest to have the Local Authority support
Britannia in its efforts to redevelop this fine building.
Britannia remains steadfast in its desire to redevelop the Fire Station.