DERBY HIPPODROME

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Crowds gathered to watch the partial demolition of the theatre. Among them was owner Christopher Anthony, who bought the former bingo hall following its closure last year. He had contractors working on the site to repair the roof following an order by Derby City Council for urgent work to be carried out to make the building secure.

But as work began, the roof and walls started to collapse and rubble began to pile up in and around the building. Mr Anthony said he had warned Derby City Council that if he touched the building to carry out repairs to the roof then it would collapse. However, a council spokeswoman said the authority would not have ordered work it believed would damage the building.

George Thomas, an agent acting on behalf of Mr Anthony, said the intention was to put a hole in the theatre's roof through which they could use the pincer arm to pull out loose timbers, making it safe to work inside. He said, "All the reports Mr Anthony obtained, and he has been in discussions with several companies, were that the building was structurally dangerous. Those reports said if you do anything it will fall down. The council served a notice on us and we had to take action, which is what we did. As soon as we touched the roof to start the work to repair it, it collapsed and took part of the wall with it."

Richard Williams, assistant director of regeneration at Derby City Council, said, "They've gone in today to start work in accordance with our notice and a part of the roof has fallen in at the end near the stage. We don't know why that has happened, because only a partial assessment as to the level of damage has taken place. They are now taking away the damaged parts of the roof, then our engineers will have a look with the contractor to see what needs to be done next. We don't know the cause of the roof's collapse and we're not saying anyone has done anything wrong."

Keith Briars, of Derby New Theatre Company, which had been working with the council and wanted to bring the theatre back into use for amateur groups in the city, said, "We feel very angry. We have been telling the council for a year about the state of the building and that it should be looked after." Mr Anthony said he had bought the building with the possible intention of turning it into a casino, back into a cinema, or even a theatre, but it was only after the sale went through in May 2007 that he had structural reports done which, he said, showed that the building was unstable." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/08)

Repair works which caused Derby's historic Hippodrome to collapse had not been properly authorised by the city council. Richard Williams, the council's assistant director of regeneration, said that the authority had previously queried whether the excavator was too big or heavy for the work, which involved removing loose roof timbers.

He said that an obligatory method statement, which detailed how work was to be completed, had been provided by the Hippodrome's owner but that it had not been signed off. Work at the site was not meant to start without the method statement being signed by authorised officers of the council.

Mr Williams said, "Anything started without the method statement being approved is actionable. We were expecting to meet Mr Anthony on the morning the work began but he did not do this. He had submitted the method statement and we had queried the size and weight of the machinery because, in our experience, smaller machinery would be used for the task. This is not to say he was wrong to use them, but we needed further explanation before we could be satisfied with the method statement. We were scheduled to be at the site mid-morning on Friday but his team had started work prior to that appointment. We went to the site as soon as we were alerted to what was happening."

Mr Williams disagreed with a statement Mr Anthony had given to the Evening Telegraph stating that the Hippodrome should be demolished for safety reasons. He said, "About eight or nine weeks ago, he was at the site with our building inspectors. He wanted consent to knock a large section of the building down because he said it was unsafe. We did not agree and refused permission. After further discussions, we issued a repairs notice. As far as we are concerned, the building is still capable of being repaired and renovated. It is a listed building. Demolition is not on our minds at the moment." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/08)

Council leader Chris Williamson said, "Following discussions with the owner's lawyers and representatives, we continue to do everything we can to get this matter into court as soon as possible to secure an injunction. It is likely to be a hearing in the High Court in London in open court." The council said it had not properly sanctioned the work because it had not signed off a method statement agreeing how that work should be carried out but Mr Anthony said he had not been requested to get such a statement signed.

He said, "The contractor had discussed the statement and a health and safety risk assessment the day before the works were to begin with the council's structural engineer and confirmed with him that these would be available onsite prior to the works commencing. Other items on the urgent works notice had already been completed and there were no written requests for a signed-off method statement prior to those works commencing. The urgent works notice and all documentation pertaining to it has been checked and there is no requirement for a method statement to be signed off by the council."

Mr Anthony also contested council statements that its building inspectors had met him about eight or nine weeks ago at the site. The Evening Telegraph asked detailed questions to both Mr Anthony and the council. These included why the council did not stop work being carried out when it had worries about the size of plant being brought in and why, when work started and it was clear the roof was moving, didn't the contractors stop straight away? Neither party replied in full to these questions.

Richard Williams, assistant director of regeneration at the council said, "Officers are actively investigating in detail what has happened over the past few days.For this reason now is not the right time to respond in detail to specific questions." Mr Anthony said he was too busy dealing with the building to answer the questions. Keith Briars, chairman of Derby New Theatre Company, said it was "somewhat strange" that the views of the council's structural engineers differed so greatly from those of Mr Anthony's. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Apr/08)