Council make next move to protect Sun Clock Tower (From Watford Observer)
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Watford Borough Council make next move to protect Sun Clock Tower in Ascot Road
1:30pm Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News
By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter
Council make next move to protect Sun Clock Tower
Watford Borough Council has moved to protect the Sun Clock Tower after the developer who owns it hinted he may have to abandon its planned redevelopment.
The authority has issued an 'Article 4 Direction' notice on the historic water pump in Ascot Road.
The notice means the owner would not be able to demolish the landmark without getting planning permission from the council first.
The move comes after the clock tower's owner, Stuart Taylor, said he may have to look at other options for the site after losing a court battle with the council.
Watford Borough Council took Mr Taylor to court for trespassing on its land when he began work on plans to renovate the clock tower and turn it into offices earlier this year.
The trespass dispute was over a corner of land on the clock tower plot which is owned by the council.
The council has since said its land, which was part of the original planning permission for the clock tower renovation, is now earmarked for use in building of the new Croxley Rail Link Metropolitan Line station in Ascot Road.
After losing the case Mr Taylor said he needed all the land on the plot for a car park to make his office scheme viable.
Speaking to the Watford Observer last month he said the impasse with the council meant he may have to look at other schemes for the land.
Following the decision to issue the protection notice, a council spokesman said: "The Sun Clock Tower, at Ascot Road, is already a locally listed building and represents an important aspect of Watford’s history.
"The council has had continuous dialogue with the owner regarding the future use of the building and hope to work with him positively in managing any heritage related issues."
Comments(14)
Wacko Jacko
says...
3:51pm Wed 16 Jan 13
HertsPeter wrote:Yawn
What a shame the Council hasn't got the same depth of feeling for the allotments on the Health Campus which, unlike the clock tower, are in use and lovingly tended by allotment holders.
Mohandas
says...
5:08pm Wed 16 Jan 13
Maceo & Fred
says...
8:04pm Wed 16 Jan 13
Mohandas
says...
8:43pm Wed 16 Jan 13
Maceo & Fred wrote:Let’s hope the council don’t come with more bulldozers, concrete and girders and plans to bury the Sun Tower. There is much talk of social housing, supermarket, stations and roads but in the midst of it all we are in danger of losing a connection with what little is left of Watford’s printing past. Watford’s history is too full of failure after failure to keep the friendly bombs of Slough at bay.
Shame that lib dem wacko seems tired. Farm terrace allotments are 107 years old lets get them listed before concrete becomes king. There isn't much of old watford left now (remember the Cassiobury gates on Ricky road). Make way for the new, lots of councils say but look at the centre of poor Hemel and Luton as well as Watford. Oh well not much council land left to sell off. How will Dorothy keep the council tax down then.
E.Coli
says...
9:30pm Wed 16 Jan 13
HertsPeter wrote:Boring
What a shame the Council hasn't got the same depth of feeling for the allotments on the Health Campus which, unlike the clock tower, are in use and lovingly tended by allotment holders.
LSC
says...
11:34pm Wed 16 Jan 13
Maceo & Fred wrote:I don't think you can list soil.
Shame that lib dem wacko seems tired. Farm terrace allotments are 107 years old lets get them listed before concrete becomes king. There isn't much of old watford left now (remember the Cassiobury gates on Ricky road). Make way for the new, lots of councils say but look at the centre of poor Hemel and Luton as well as Watford. Oh well not much council land left to sell off. How will Dorothy keep the council tax down then.
You can protect an area of natural beauty (which it isn't) and you can protect Green Belt (which it isn't).
I don't really know the area but if it is like most allotments, it is cheap garden sheds and some cabbages. Not quite the Tower of London or the Hampton Court Maze.
Don't get me wrong, I have no real opinion either way, but listing is pushing the boat out a bit far.
LSC
says...
11:39pm Wed 16 Jan 13
Listing involves preserving history; not something you bought from B&Q last week.
Razor Sharp
says...
8:31am Thu 17 Jan 13
Andrew1963
says...
10:25pm Thu 17 Jan 13
HertsPeter
says...
9:08am Fri 18 Jan 13
Razor Sharp
says...
11:32am Fri 18 Jan 13
HertsPeter wrote:What do you expect HertsPeter?, a decade from now we will see a new batch of the intellectually challenged, the way the public sector education system is going. Perhaps it's a "Black Mirror" - "X Factor" style conspiracy, where a simplified 'yes' culture is preferred and those that win and receive the public vote rarely make the grade or receive the backing they should.
Wacko Jacko and e Coli I'm so sorry to have kept you awake. Given your lack of intelligence & cynicism, I presume you're part of Dotty's propaganda machine - LibDum activists, council staff, or both? (I'm not holding my breath for an answer)
The Dotty propaganda machine is so simplistic, yet so effective it beggars belief. Perhaps with more flats and hence a more transient population, there will be less resistance to the madness that has gripped the political scene in Watford.
A 'yes' culture by default.
HertsPeter
says...
9:37pm Sat 19 Jan 13
Razor Sharp wrote:I simply cannot stand the way Dotty's little helpers hijack these forums.
HertsPeter wrote:What do you expect HertsPeter?, a decade from now we will see a new batch of the intellectually challenged, the way the public sector education system is going. Perhaps it's a "Black Mirror" - "X Factor" style conspiracy, where a simplified 'yes' culture is preferred and those that win and receive the public vote rarely make the grade or receive the backing they should.
Wacko Jacko and e Coli I'm so sorry to have kept you awake. Given your lack of intelligence & cynicism, I presume you're part of Dotty's propaganda machine - LibDum activists, council staff, or both? (I'm not holding my breath for an answer)
The Dotty propaganda machine is so simplistic, yet so effective it beggars belief. Perhaps with more flats and hence a more transient population, there will be less resistance to the madness that has gripped the political scene in Watford.
A 'yes' culture by default.
Razor Sharp
says...
9:45am Sun 20 Jan 13
HertsPeter says...
1:46pm Wed 16 Jan 13