COUNCIL RELEASES STATEMENT ON BUILE HILL HOT HOUSE LISTING STATUS

Following a number of misguided and sometimes blatantly untrue statements which are being spread online regarding the listing status of what remains of the hot-house which lies within Buile Hill Park, Salford council has released a statemen.

The statement reads:

Quote

 

Following various comments on social media the Council consider it would be helpful to clarify the current position with regard to the remaining  hot house structure in the former depot area adjacent to Buile Hill Mansion.

Buile Hill Mansion, alone, was listed on 18 January, 1980. The depot and buildings, including the hot house are not mentioned in the listing description and at that time of listing the mansion was being used as a Mining Museum and was operating separately from the council parks depot where the hothouse structure and other buildings are situated. As the Mansion and Depot  uses were independent at the date of listing, the depot buildings, including the hothouse structure,  are not curtilage listed buildings.

The hot house is mentioned in the Historic Parks and Gardens designation, but this is not the same as ‘listing’ and is a non-statutory designation. Therefore it is for Salford City Council Planning and Conservation officers and other statutory consultees including Historic England to determine the significance of buildings and structures within the former council parks depot. 

We note the speculation regarding the hot house and whether it is the original structure and would like to clarify that the structure was extensively refurbished / upgraded in the 1970’s and then again in the 1990’s, during which time the glazing was removed and structural steelwork erected to support the central lantern structure (This was done to prevent its collapse) . As a result very little now remains of the original structure and surveys undertaken in 2008 identified that refurbishing the in-situ frame and re-glazing would be unviable due to the building regulations in force along with the poor condition of the structure. The condition in the intervening 15 years has further deteriorated.

In summary what remains on site is not able to be re-instated through refurbishment and if a replacement facility were to be provided it is estimated that it would  cost circa £2Million to deliver. That estimated  Capital cost plus the high levels of estimated running costs and maintenance mean that it is outside the reach of the Council to look at the re-provision of the facility given our focus on delivering the refurbishment of the Mansion and the substantial costs associated with that.

In terms of next steps the Council will shortly submit planning applications for the Mansion and associated proposals for the external works and proposed car park in the depot area. This will included a listed building application for the mansion works reflecting its listed status and a “standard” application for the depot area and other external works ( as we do not believe the depot area nor the structures within it to be listed) . This approach will however, in the event that it is determined that the depot or a building(s) within it are considered to be listed, allow the application to be considered reflecting that scenario.  The applications  will include proposals to demolish all buildings on the Depot site including the former hothouse structure. This follows the extensive public consultation that has taken place with regard to the proposals for the mansion and depot.

The application seeks to use an improved  depot area for car parking to serve the mansion, banqueting suite and wider park area

Part of the , proposed, cleared depot area has been identified as being suitable for other uses supporting the mansion and wider park uses and this was the subject of a informal tender opportunity that was publicly marketed on the council’s website and via Rightmove in Feb- April 2022.

On the back of that tender 3 proposals were received with the one submitted by BMHA being selected as the preferred option for further discussion.

Those discussions are ongoing but just to be absolutely clear the marketing was undertaken on an assumed cleared site basis.

In terms of the Councils approach to the Mansion and associated works all those matters have been discussed at the monthly working group meetings with BHMA and have been fully detailed at the Community consultation events held