Derelict Buildings

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32393, 4 September 1970, Page 12

Derelict Buildings

Sir,—On June 27 this year you printed a letter under this heading with a reply from the Town Clerk (Mr M. B. Hayes). Your correspondent wished to know how much longer he and others in the vicinity would have to tolerate the dilapidated vacant bungalow at 60 Somme Street, St Albans, which, in its present state, is having a very detrimental effect on the value of local properties. Mr Hayes stated in his reply that the dwelling referred to by the correspondent “is in the process of being demolished and the work is to be completed fairly soon.” Could 1 inquire from Mr Hayes why he made such a misleading statement, and would he define the words “fairly soon?” —Yours, etc., SILENCE MEANS CONSENT. August 24, 1970.

[The Town Clerk (Mr M. B. Hayes) replies: “The comment which I made on the earlier letter was based on a report which I obtained at that time, and was certainly not given with any intention to mislead the correspondent, who has been in touch with the council on a number of occasions regarding the state of this house. As the owner had given an undertaking that he would demolish the house and redevelop the site, no statutory action by the council was considered warranted. The latest information supplied to me is that, while the owner has been delayed on account of illness, demolition work is proceeding and that internal partitions, some spouting, the brick chimney, and some roofing have been removed.”]