'Stunning' Doncaster Victorian landmark building to be demolished

Developers are looking to knock down the 157-year-old Balby Road Methodist Church and Doncaster Council has already given developer, Surjit Duhre, permission to go ahead.

The plan has upset some conservationists. One campaigner, Peter Robert Nixon, of the Demolition Register blog, said it was a shame it cold not be used by another religious congregation, and this was a failing of the planning system and the market system.

He wrote: “This stunning chapel from 1863 has been given prior approval for demolition pending a bat survey, which means the applicant, Mr Surjit Duhre, will be seeing off this example of Victorian splendor imminently.

“Extremely sad to see this building go, as it offers a notion of civic life along this high street otherwise dominated by residential uses.

“Doncaster needs to retain as much cultural heritage as possible, so I’ll be pressing for a spot listing from Heritage England.”

The Victorian Society retweeted a post stating: “Sick of seeing churches get demolished when congregations have to use industrial buildings in the fringes of cities for their congregations.”

Doncaster Council states there were no objections when demolition plans were posted outside the building.

It states: “The Conservation Officer noted the history to the site and building, dating from the late C19, some of the external features but noting that internally little of interest remained. The site is not in a conservation area and not listed, nor was it likely to provide sufficient interest that it would happen imminently.”

The developer’s design and access statement said the cost of repairing the exterior would not be cheap due, with most bricks in poor condition.

They stated a new building could incorporate some original features and the land could support 20 new flats, after demolition.

They added: “With no current interest in the building itself, it could continue to stand for a further 20 years experiencing no use or providing any impact for the local community. It would then suffer further decay, fall into a state of further disrepair and be at risk of falling down.”

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