A BUILDING of significant historic interest has now been demolished – without planning permission to do so.
Carsebridge House was knocked down by owners Advance Construction through the afternoon on Wednesday, September 18.
The owners had previously submitted a planning application to demolish the building, citing safety concerns as their reasons.
However, this application has not yet been approved by Clackmannanshire Council, which should have prevented the owners from tearing the building down.
“After the building was damaged by fire on August 29, the Council served a Dangerous Building Notice on Advance Construction, the owners, which required them to make the site secure and to prepare a structural engineer’s report on the structural stability of the building.
“On September 6, Advance Construction then applied for Listed Building Consent to demolish Carsebridge House.
“The Council had contacted Historic Environment Scotland for advice and commissioned its own structural engineer’s report to obtain an independent view on the condition of the building.
“As of 18 September 2024, no decision had been made on the application to demolish Carsebridge House.
“We were alerted to activity on the site on Wednesday and on arrival a machine was present and had already taken down the west gable wall of the building.
“Council officers immediately instructed Advance to stop this unauthorised work. However, Advance continued to demolish the building in its entirety over the course of that day.
“The Council is now considering next steps.”
READ MORE: Carsebridge House suffers serious damage from fire
The planning application was submitted and received by the council on Friday, September 6, being validated on Tuesday, September 10.
That was as far as it got, however, with the application not having gone through the consultation and recommendation/or committee stages, as per the council’s planning portal.
Councillor Graham Lindsay, deputy leader of the council, slammed Advance Construction’s actions on his Facebook page, calling for swift action to be taken against them.
He said: “Absolutely enraged and shocked to see that Carsebridge House has been demolished by Advance Construction.
“This is a blatant disregard on a number of fronts. It tears down a beacon of our history without any regard for the local community and our local heritage.
“This is also a B listed building and I am now calling on Historic Environment Scotland to take the strongest action against Advance Construction.
“Not once have this company considered or consulted with local people or elected members on this building’s future or the demolition of it.
“I will be bringing a motion to the next council meeting to that effect. We will not be disregarded by big time developers.”
READ MORE: Petition launched to save remains of Carsebridge House
Around the time of the application being submitted, a counter petition was also launched which called on the building to be saved and restored.
The petition stated: “Many of us have watched with heavy hearts as Carsebridge House, like much of Clackmannanshire’s listed heritage, has been allowed to deteriorate.
“Every brick that crumbles, every piece of history lost, detracts from our identity, our collective memory, and our connections to the past.”
Historic Environment Scotland also condemned the demolition of Carsebridge House, explaining that they would have objected to its loss.
A spokesperson for HES said: "As a statutory consultee, we received a Listed Building Consent consultation for the demolition of B-listed Carsebridge House.
"We were waiting for further information from the Council on whether the surviving walls were able to be retained, or whether they were dangerous and needed to be taken down.
"Had the building been judged as safe to retain, then we would have objected to its loss."
Advance Construction have been approached for comment.
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