Whispers fined for assembly hall failings

DAMAGED . . . this picture, looking at the hall from Royton precinct, was submitted in evidence to the court

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£1,000 penalty for work that cost £72.50

THE owner of the controversial Royton Assembly Hall development has has been slapped with a £3,500 fine — £1,000 of it for work that cost £72.50 to put right.

Whispers Developments Ltd — which bought the loss-making building for £215,000 in 2003 — yesterday pleaded guilty to failing to secure part of the site.

Mr Mohammed Khan, head of building projects for the firm, also admitted two counts of obstructing pavements in Royton town centre.

The company had previously submitted not guilty pleas.

Oldham Magistrates heard that Whispers was given a month in August, 2009, to remove fencing, a concrete post and a concrete base blocking the pavements on Middleton Road and Spring Garden Street.

Carol Curtin, prosecuting for Oldham Council, said it then cost the council £72.50 to do the work in October when the company failed to act.

Whispers was also given permission to erect hoardings to secure part of its site on Market Square on October 30. This followed problems with youths pulling down the existing fence and breaking into the area which is being turned into a garden.

However, this had not been put up when an officer visited on November 25

Miss Curtin said: “The site has now been secured, however, not without a lot of pressing from the council.

“This building is in a very busy district centre and there have been a number of complaints regarding aspects of safety.”

She said sections of fence pulled down by youths were a danger to people walking on the pavement.

She added: “From our point of view, there should have been regular visits and the site should have been reviewed on a regular basis to make sure it was made secure.”

There has been anger at delays to the conference centre and function suite development which was originally meant to be completed in 2004.

The council threatened to take legal action to ensure it is completed and a schedule of work was drawn up.

Mr Khan told the court that youths had repeatedly pulled down the original fence in Market Square to use the area for skateboarding.

He described the cost of the hoardings as astronomical and said: “The company already spent £2.5 million before the recession on refurbishing the building and purchase of the building. The building is 80 per cent completed.

“It has been quite a big undertaking. We have spoken to the council now about signing a deed which will give a list of works and dates.”

Whispers was fined a total of £3,500 and ordered to pay £320 costs along with the £15 victim surcharge.

Chairman of the bench Aftab Haque said he had taken into account the company’s guilty pleas, the mitigating circumstances and that hoardings had now been erected.


We will keep up pressure — council

After the hearing, Councillor Rod Blyth, cabinet member for community safety and public protection said: “Oldham Council is well aware of the strength of feeling about the current state of Royton Assembly Hall and has been working closely to ensure that all remedial work is completed by Whispers.

“If this does not happen then the council will take appropriate action.

“This is an issue that has been dragging out for far too long and the council will continue to push Whispers to speed up the refurbishment process and get the Assembly Hall open for business as soon as possible.”