Refusal of work to listed hall welcomed by Civic Society

Bradford Civic Society made the comments following to a recent decision to refuse retrospective plans for roller shutters on the front of the Connaught Rooms building on Manningham Lane – a Grade II listed building.

They said despite the history of the street, there “hadn’t been much respect” for its heritage in recent years.

36 Manningham Lane was built as a Masonic Hall in 1926, and is one of the most prominent buildings on Manningham Lane.

The Connaught Rooms on Manningham Lane (Image: newsquest)

It is currently a wedding venue, with other businesses on the ground floor.

Roller shutters were installed on the front of the building several years ago, and a retrospective planning application for this work was submitted to Bradford Council in October.

Current Council policy dissuades businesses from installing external, solid shutters on buildings, saying it “deadens” streets.

But the application, by Izrar Aziz, said the shutters were the only way to protect the building from regular vandalism.

While permission had been granted in the late 90s for less solid, grid style shutters, the application said this style of security would prove unsuccessful, as people could use bars or long sticks to reach through the shutters and damage the windows.

But this application was recently refused by planning officers, who said the unauthorised work was itself damaging to the property, and went against policy for listed buildings.

The planning application said the external shutters were installed to “prevent the listed building from vandalism.”

It added: “Vandalism has been a problem for many years. Planning consent was granted in 1999 to install an open grid security shutter on the shop unit.

“Unfortunately, the open grid style of grill still allows vandals to push sticks and bars through to break the windows and indeed push rubbish through, often also set alight.

“This has been a constant problem for many years.

“Internal shutters offer no protection to windows being broken. Open security grills similarly may provide security against intruders but fail to protect windows.

“Although the preference of the Council for a more open style of grill or indeed internal shutters, which allows a more attractive frontage when the business is closed, is appreciated, they do not offer a satisfactory way of safeguarding windows from being broken.

“The owner has had no choice but to introduce security shutters to stop vandalism which threatens the future of the businesses in the building and hence its long-term.”

Refusing the plans, officers pointed out that the shutters were not the only work that had been done to the listed property without permission.

Their report said: “Although other unauthorised works have been carried out on this building, these have not been mentioned within the application description and therefore will not be considered as part of this assessment.

“To the side of the building which is adjacent to Trafalgar Street at least four openings of which shutters have been applied have been formed without consent. These have been crudely formed with no consideration for the appearance of the building.

The new entrances that have been cut into the side of the Grade II listed building (Image: newsquest)

“The roller shutters are external and solid metal which have affected the character of the building and have created a deadening effect and are not compatible with the significance and architectural grandeur of the building.

“The profusion of shutters is unsightly and degrading to the significance of the building.

“The shutters have caused demonstrable visual amenity harm and fail to comply with guidance.”

Bradford Civic Society, a group set up to safeguard the city’s heritage, said this work was not the only unauthorised work carried out on listed buildings in the city.

A spokesman for the society said: "Manningham Lane is one of the most historic routes into Bradford but sadly there hasn't been much respect for its heritage in recent years.

Manningham Lane, with the Connaught Rooms in the foreground (Image: newsquest)

“Bradford Civic Society hopes the refusal of these awful roller shutters sends a message to others that it's simply not OK to do whatever you want to a listed building.

“There's been similar cases in the city centre whereby property owners have installed illegal roller shutters.

“But it's now a widely accepted design principle that they actually do more harm to the wider neighbourhood and make streets feel less safe."