Council calls on Britannia for action on Fire Station

MANCHESTER City Council has written to the owner of Hale-based Britannia Hotels Group seeking a meeting to take forward plans for the London Road Fire Station site.

The council’s attempt to purchase the building via a Compulsory Purchase Order was rejected by a Public Inquiry in November, leaving the council with a £700,000 bill for its own costs as well as a claim from Britannia to recover £750,000 for its legal fees.

A report due before the city council’s executive next week described the outcome as “disappointing  because Britannia was offered the opportunity both before and during the inquiry to enter a binding contractual commitment to redevelop the Fire Station”.

It stressed that the council’s sole motivation for the CPO was to ensure that planning consent which Britannia had gained on the building would be acted upon “so as to support the long term regeneration of the area”.

The council’s chief executive, Sir Howard Bernstein, has now written Britannia Hotels Group owner Alex Langsam to discuss moving the project forwards by carrying out necessary acoustic and damp proofing work as well as timetabling a programme for development.

The letter states: “I want to re-state that the Council’s only objective here is to secure the implementation of the planning permission and listed building consent are implemented, and that a new Manchester hotel is developed to 4-star standard or equivalent as soon as possible.

“This objective mirrors your own statement to the Inquiry and we stand prepared to work hard with you to ensure these are achieved,” it adds.