COVENTRY City Council has removed a potential fire risk to the city’s great medieval Guildhall after the Observer highlighted complains from heritage groups about reckless waste storage in a conservation area.
We reported last week the concerns of preservation group The Coventry Society and Roger Bailey, city tourist guide and councillor, after giant bin skips had been placed alongside a wall to the 760-year-old St Mary’s Guildhall, next to the cathedral ruins in Bayley Lane.
They said complaints had been ignored – and traders in nearby Castle Yard were continuing to locate the giant skips next to the Guildhall.
We put their concerns to the council which has released the following statement..
“Council officers have spoken to tenants of businesses in Castle Yard to discuss moving the bins away from the Guildhall and the need for fire safety precautions around bin storage.
“They have been very supportive and the bins have now been moved to a different location at a safe distance from the Guildhall.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and to talk to business owners, the letting agents and the private firm that collects the waste to ensure the bins are kept away from the Guildhall and in the new location.
“We obviously take fire safety very seriously and do everything we can to minimise the threat to any buildings in the city.
“The Guildhall is a treasured part of Coventry’s heritage and we will continue to work to protect and promote the site.”
Peter Wilford of the Coventry Freemans Guild had said the problem had started when the food outlets in and around Castle Court/Castle Yard changed their contracts for waste collection.
