Historic pub demolished without permission ordered to be rebuilt
Developers who demolished a historic London pub without planning permission have been ordered to rebuild it brick by brick.
The 94-year-old Carlton Tavern was demolished at the beginning of April, by developers CLTX, who bought the building last year with a view to converting it into flats. Permission to do so had been denied by Westminster Council, who confirmed that the demolition had taken place without council authority.
Council enforcement officers were called to the scene after the incident, and it has now been reported that a fast-tracked enforcement notice will be issued next week, requiring CLTX to recreate the building "as it stood immediately prior to its demolition" (as reported in http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/11571257/Historic-pub-bulldozed-by-developers-must-be-rebuilt-brick-by-brick.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">The Telegraph). The notice will also prevent the company from selling the building before the work is complete.
Landlady Patsy Lord said she had no idea the demolition was set to happen, having been told to close that day "for an inventory". She only found out about the destruction when she was called to move her car from the site.
At the time, Maida Vale councillor Jan Prendergast said that permission had not been granted, and that "the council will take very strong measures against them. It's not safe and I'm appalled for the residents who live here".
Thomas Crockett, also a Maida Vale councillor, wrote on his Twitter account that pubs were "important for the community" and that he was "genuinely shocked and saddened" by the incident.
A spokesperson from English Heritage confirmed to The Caterer that a proposal to list the building had been made, as some local people wrote on Twitter that the demolition had deliberately come just days before the listing decision was expected.
Westminster Council has now reportedly made arrangements to definitively list the building, which is said to be the only one in its street not to be destroyed in the Blitz of the Second World War.
