Driffield Councillors urge development of Eyesore

Local East Riding of Yorkshire Ward Councillors, Jonathan Owen, Felicity Temple, and Symon Fraser are pressing Council Officers to take urgent action to address the safety of residents, pedestrians and road users near the Old Sugar Mills on Anderson Street.

 

The buildings which are in a decrepit state are in danger of suffering further damage in recent high winds and this is posing a threat to nearby people through the threat of falling debris.

 

Councillor Jonathan Owen stated, “I am pleased to say that our concerns are being quickly taken up by the Building Control Officers who are demanding the owners take urgent action to address the problems.”

 

Councillor Felicity Temple remarked, “The recent high winds have highlighted the problems and dangers these buildings pose to people living nearby and to walkers and road users. We want to see the buildings made safe and ideally brought back into use to benefit everyone concerned. No matter how much effort local residents make to improve their environment these buildings blight the area and detract from their quality of life. The current situation can not be allowed to continue.  During judging for Yorkshire in Bloom for instance, we have to ensure we do not drive the judges past this area as it lets down so much of the rest of the town.  There are other small areas in the town which also concern us, but we cannot have something this big, prominent and previously important to the town, still boarded up and with the windows smashed etc.  We really have to try and get the owners to have a better community spirit and either put this on the market or get it developed themselves.

 

Councillor Symon Fraser added, “What we would really like to see is the re-development of these buildings in a way which brings a new lease of life to the area. Previous plans have been considered but nothing has been done to push the progress forward. We would urge the owners to ensure the buildings are safe in the short term and to press forward with re-development as soon as practicably possible.”

 

Photo shows Cllrs Jonathan Owen, Felicity Temple and Symon Fraser at the rundown site on Anderson Street.