BARNSLEY Council will assess a derelict building’s safety - after calls were made to demolish the arson-hit structure.
Dorbren House, on Cemetery Road, Grimethorpe, was set alight six times last year according to fire figures, with the latest incident on New Year’s Day gutting the second floor.
Although the building - which is owned by Phoenix Investment Property - has since been boarded back up to stop people getting in, concerns about its structure have been raised by residents who described Dorbren House as a ‘danger’.
Elsie Smith, of Grimethorpe Neighbourhood Watch, said: “It’s been empty for so long and as we have seen with the Miners’ Welfare Ground, if something is left unoccupied it soon becomes a magnet for antisocial behaviour.
“Dorbren House is a little bit different as it is now very dangerous - it’s had so many fires in the last 12 months alone so it doesn’t bear thinking about if someone gets in and has an accident. It has to be unsafe and the building might not cope with another serious fire like the last one.
“It would be a shame to demolish it, but when it becomes unsafe and has its reputation, I can’t see another solution. We would lose something which could become a much-needed community hub, but it’s youngsters who are setting it alight from the inside and if it isn’t there, they wouldn’t be able to harm themselves.”
The building, which was originally the vicarage for St Luke’s Church, has also been a GP surgery, a health centre and a floor was converted into flats but it has stood empty since July 2012.
Simon Brookes, from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, said an investigation into the New Year’s Day fire has been concluded - but warned that people’s lives are being put at risk by each incident.
“Like we’ve seen before, they are clearly deliberate fires, usually caused by kids, who are known to hang around on Cemetery Road.
“The danger is with kids hanging around as it’s difficult to know if anyone is still inside. If we attend an incident there, the decision to allow officers to go in rests on us and if they have already left the building, as has been the case in the past, they are also putting us at risk.
“It is unsafe to go in and it’s clearly a big problem.”
A council spokesman said: “Building control have secured the building to make sure it poses no concern to public safety and have approached the building’s owner to make them aware of the situation and the work they have carried out.
“The council is governed and restricted by the dangerous structures legislation and we would only ever seek to demolish a building if it was in such a poor structural state that it caused immediate danger to the public.
“All other options would have to have been exhausted such as fencing and boarding up.
“If the building’s condition is considered to significantly affect the visual appearance of the area there may be a possibility for the council to take action under Planning Legislation Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
“Planning enforcement are in the process of arranging a visit to Dorbren House to carry out a full assessment.”
No-one from Phoenix Investment Property was available to comment when contacted by the Chronicle.
