Friday 30 August 2013

Fourth oldest building in Sale!

I thank God for Trafford Heritage Society, Sale Civic Society, the Victorian Society and all those societies
committed to our built heritage.  I do not have a good word for Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council.  The council is proposing to demolish St Paul’s Vicarage because according to a Trafford MBC spokesperson, quoted in the SAM (Front page 29.08.13), “the proposed demolition of the vicarage was weighed against the public benefit of providing outdoor play space for Springfield Primary School.”   But this building is the fourth oldest in Sale.  How, one may reasonably ask, do the local authorities of Paris, Rome, Prague, Munich, Salzburg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Barcelona, &c., manage to educate their primary school children without demolishing their old buildings.  Perhaps it is because these cities are not cursed with the kind of councillor who says:
 “There is a lack of green space at this school.  If we can provide some green space by removing that ugly building, it should happen as soon as possible.”
(Councillor Phil Gratrix, quoted in SAM 18.07.13).  
I urge Trafford voters to withdraw support from any prospective councillor who supports the demolition of St.Paul’s Vicarage.  It is a listed building, not without good reason, and therefore there is not a good reason for knocking it down.  For the record, I am so grateful that we have a newspaper like the SAM which never fails to keep us informed about the lamentable record of Trafford MBC in the stewardship of our built heritage.

Robin Glennie