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Contractor accused of 'dangerous' demolition
A CONTRACTOR involved in the demolition of a derelict building on Mansfield's Bellamy Road estate could face prosecution after major health and safety problems.
The eyesore Courtlands Social Club has been bulldozed over the last few weeks, but residents' representative say the demolition 'endangered everybody on the estate'.
Council chiefs say the building was knocked down without planning permission and the contractor involved ignored notices from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) barring the company from continuing the work.
Mansfield District Council planning chief Martyn Saxton said building control officers had visited the site when they found out it was being demolished and saw asbestos was present.
He said: "The contractors were told to cease work and the council advised the HSE of the incident.
"The contractor was also advised that it was an offence to demolish a building without the appropriate notice.
"The HSE served two prohibition notices on the contractor to stop the work, while the council secured the site –– together with 24 hour security –– due to the dangerous condition of the site and the presence of asbestos.
"A specialist asbestos removal team subsequently removed the asbestos under HSE instruction."
'Disregard'
He said the contractor then proceeded to demolish the building without consent and on 10th October had ruptured a gas main, causing the fire service and police to be called and an exclusion zone set up.
Said Mr Saxton: "The contractor and owner have demonstrated a total disregard for public safety and regulations and, as a result, the HSE is prosecuting the contractor and the district council is seeking to prosecute the owners of the building for demolishing a building without the necessary consent."
And Richard Dabell, chairman of Bellamy Road Tenants' and Residents' Association, said: "We all want that building down and gone, but we want it done safely. He has endangered everybody on this estate."
Richard Elliott-Matthews — the owner of company UK Enterprise 2009, which was managing the demolition on behalf of owners the Route Organisation — admitted there had been some mistakes made, but said it was in the public interest for the building to be pulled down.
He said communication issues had been to blame for him not gaining planning permission and for not knowing there was asbestos in the building. But he stressed that he stopped work immediately when he found out about the asbestos.
Mr Elliott-Matthews said he had applied for disconnection of the gas supply, but said it was a slow process and the leak was a 'genuine accident', which he had contacted the relevant authorities about straight away.
He said: "There was no real danger to public safety. There was never at any time a real need to evacuate people from their homes.
"My decisions were in the interests of public safety and I think building control were actually endangering the public far more by keeping the building up.
"I have lost a lot of money on this job, but I have spared no expense on maintaining security and looking after public safety.
"I have got to put my hands up. I did do it wrong and I made bad errors of judgement but having done that, I made sure I put it right. For that I can't be hung, drawn and quartered."
The HSE confirmed it is investigating, but would not comment further.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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