Historic buildings to be demolished (From The Oxford Times)

Historic buildings to be demolished

7:00am Monday 13th February 2012 in Wallingford By Ben Wilkinson

Terry Randall in front of the Wallingford Street shops

A developer has been given the go-ahead to demolish two 18th century shops despite protests from preservation campaigners.

Vanderbilt Homes can now knock down 21 and 23 Wallingford Street as part of a redevelopment in Stirling Road bringing five shops and 12 apartments.

Vale of White Horse District Council gave the scheme permission at a planning committee meeting.

An original planning application, approved in 2010, involved refurbishing the two shops, formerly Blanchard Fabrics and James Heating Services.

But Vanderbilt Homes said it applied to knock the buildings down after discovering they were beyond repair.

The buildings are the only two survivors of a row of timber-framed shops demolished in 1972 to make way for the Waitrose supermarket.

Terry Randall, owner of Wantage-based Wheatsheaf Restorations, said the buildings could have been preserved.

He collected a petition with more than 50 signatures against the plan last year.

The 63-year-old, from Grove Street, said about 10 residents turned out to protest about the demolition at the meeting.

He said: “We are losing one of the last pieces of what was historic Wantage. Lots of people will be disappointed.”

Jenny Hannaby, a district council member for Wantage Segsbury, voted against the move as she thought the building could have been salvaged with more investment.

She said: “We are bitterly disappointed to have lost the battle.

“We are trying to fight to save as much of the heritage of the town as we can.

“But these developers do not have any attachment to the town or the buildings.”

A Vanderbilt Homes spokesman said: “The building is completely shot to bits. We would try to save if it we could.”

He said work on the development could start in the spring with work taking about year to complete.

He added: “It will be a real asset to the town.”