THE COVENTRY Society has called for people’s views on what could be done to preserve the city’s heritage in the wake of the Crooked House blaze.
The civic society is currently looking at updating its list of heritage at risk, with the hope its interventions will play a part in saving the city’s iconic community-loved buildings or open spaces.
In a statement, the society said it abhors the destruction of the Crooked House public house, along with the ‘obvious inadequacies of current measures designed to protect the historic environment.’
The statement added: “It is no exaggeration to state, the wanton destruction of the Crooked House has left many grieving for the passing of an ‘old friend’, and the happy memories it evoked.
“The sorry fate of the Crooked House must now act as a clarion call to everyone who wants to protect and conserve our nation’s precious history. “
The society added the case demonstrated the urgent need for people to become more aware of planned developments in their local areas, and a readiness to take action to prevent ‘irreparable damage’ to the historic environment ‘before it’s too late.’
The society wants to engage with local people to identify priorities and raise the profile of buildings.
Society member Paul Maddocks told the Observer: “This has been a difficult time, we need to make sure we can save community-loved buildings or open spaces before they’re lost forever.
“They might be able to rebuild the Crooked House but it will never be the same again, so we need to prevent any damage being caused to our at-risk buildings in the first place.
“We as a society cover planning applications but some of the most vulnerable buildings aren’t being penciled in for development.”
Paul suggested temporarily moving people into these iconic buildings through firms like Ad Hoc, which provides solutions for securing properties whilst offering affordable living spaces.
Ad Hoc’s building ‘guardians’, many of them key workers, pay around 30 per cent less than equivalent market rates for their living spaces.
Paul said schemes like this allow people who recently moved into the city to take their first steps onto the property ladder while safeguarding the buildings they live in from vandals.
He added schemes such as this have worked very well in the past in buildings such as Charterhouse.
- What do you think? Which vulnerable buildings need to be protected and what could be done to do so? Email [email protected] or visit www.coventrysociety.org.uk/contact-us/ to give your views.
Picture – MIDI, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13561293https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=135612932
