黑洞社区

The listing of the Dormon Long tower in Teesside was a 鈥渇arce鈥�, the mayor who demolished the brutalist landmark has said.

Ben Houchen said the 1950s structure was 鈥渋ncorrectly listed鈥� by a Historic England listings officer who 鈥渂asically just didn鈥檛 understand what brutalist architecture was鈥�.

The coking plant had been granted grade II-listed status just days before its demise in September in an emergency move after its planned demolition was announced.

>> Full interview with Ben Houchen: the man putting the power back into Teesside

But the listing was revoked by culture secretary Nadine Dorries 鈥� in one of her first decisions after being appointed to the role in September鈥檚 cabinet reshuffle 鈥� after Houchen launched an appeal.

The tower, which Historic England had described as a monument to the region鈥檚 20th Century industrial heritage, was then flattened by Thompsons of Prudhoe just two days later in a nighttime explosion.

Despite admitting that it was a local landmark, Houchen said the structure should not have been given the protected status.

The 34-year-old Teesside mayor told 黑洞社区 he demolished the tower 鈥渂ecause it was incorrectly listed by a listings officer at Historic England, who basically just didn鈥檛 understand what brutalist architecture was鈥�.

He added that the report 鈥漴eferenced a photo album as the only source of evidence that this thing was of important brutalist architecture, not a leading authority, just a local photographer who happened to take a picture of it. 

鈥淚 mean, the farce that went around that being listed in the first place was ridiculous.鈥�

Historic England has previously queried Houchen鈥檚 version of events and today added: 鈥淭he listing was not a mistake. We advised that the building should be listed at grade II, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) agreed and the building was listed. Following a review of the information our recommendation remained the same. However, DCMS, which takes the decision on all listing cases, decided to remove its listed status.鈥�

Houchen said the decision to demolish it was 鈥減retty straightforward鈥�, adding: 鈥淭he way it came down to me was, unfortunately, where that tower stood, was where an investor wanted to come. 

鈥淎nd if it鈥檚 the choice between keeping a coal bunker that doesn鈥檛 do anything, and hasn鈥檛 done anything since the 60s, which isn鈥檛 of any real historical importance from a Historic England point of view, but might be a local landmark, which I completely accept, if the trade-off is keeping that or creating 2,000 jobs in things like offshore wind manufacturing, then I鈥檓 happy with the decision that I made.

鈥淚n an ideal world, if we could have kept it, great. But if the choice is between keeping it or 2,000 jobs, we鈥檙e taking 2000 jobs.鈥�

The tower was built in 1956 by Dormon Long, the steel and heavy engineering firm which dominated Teesside鈥檚 industry for much of the 20th century.

Historic England said it was a 鈥渞are surviving remnant of the coal, iron and steel industries鈥�.

In a statement released on the day its listing was revoked, Houchen said that Historic England had 鈥渁ccepted that the listing was a mistake鈥� and that it had been made by a 鈥渏unior officer who agreed the listing without ever seeing the structure itself鈥�.

He added: 鈥淚 would like to send a message to those that think trying to stop these developments is the right thing to do 鈥� our heritage does not lie in a rotting coal bunker, our heritage lies in the people that built this great region.鈥�

Teesside, which saw its traditional industries decline in the later part of the 20th century, has become a major hub of new green industrial schemes over the past five years.

Major developments in the works include a manufacturing plant for offshore wind turbine blades and the UK鈥檚 largest freeport. The government has also earmarked the region for one of two UK carbon capture clusters.

Houchen, who is considered a rising star in the Conservative party, was re-elected for a second term with 73% of the vote in May鈥檚 local elections.