Countdown to demolish Fairstead pub
THE long wait to have a derelict Fairstead pub demolished is about to come to an end after West Norfolk Council revealed work should start at the end of the month.
After blighting the landscape for more than a decade The Fairstead pub, in Fernlea Road, is to be razed to the ground in a bid to breathe new life into the estate and remove a longstanding symbol of neglect.
The announcement comes after local resident Graham Brooks made renewed calls for demolition work to start and help boost the regeneration of the area.
Mr Brooks, who lives opposite the pub, told the Lynn News: "It is in a terrible state and looks an absolute mess. When I get up every morning the first thing I see is that.
"Everything has been directed at Centre Point. There is a garden and sculptures and it is a nice area, but when you come down here, you see this.
"It has been empty for more than ten years. We are always told something will be done, but nothing is."
The pub was bought by the Improving Neighbourhoods Board using money from the Safer Stronger Communities fund in December 2006.
Once the demolition is complete the board will form a steering group, which will include local residents, to make a decision on how to develop the land.
A council spokesman said: "It was hoped that it would be possible to demolish the pub by July or August, following the completion of a formal tendering process to engage contractors to do the work.
"However, there have been numerous delays, beyond our control, such as getting the utilities to the site turned off and the systems purged.
"We have now received confirmation that this work has been done and the contractors will be on site by Monday, October 29, at the latest, to start demolition work."
The derelict building has also been a source of derision for some residents, who saw graffiti scrubbed from the pub walls during the recent Operation Civic Pride clean-up.
Mr Brooks said: "This graffiti has been on the pub for ten years. This is a total waste of taxpayers' money. They need to hold their hands up and say it should not have been on the list."
But the council responded by saying: "At the time the police did their audit of where the graffiti was we did not have a date for the demolition of the pub.
"If the graffiti had been left in the location, it may well have encouraged further graffiti in the area, hence the reasoning behind cleaning it.
"The contractors who cleared the graffiti were not employed just for one job, but to tackle the whole area, therefore the individual cost of clearing the graffiti from the pub was minimal."
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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