Developers Dandara have already been given received planning permission to refurbish the 1940s structure and put it back into commercial use. They had also planned to reinstate a number of its original features.
But the company says that it carried out extensive structural surveys and discovered ‘significant and alarming issues’ with the building, which it said was now structurally unsound. It has lodged a new a planning application to demolish the structure.
According to a heritage impact assessment, Organisation Todt – the civil and military engineering division of the Nazi government – requisitioned the land at Beaumont in 1942 and used forced labourers to build the structure.
They fitted it with three coal-fired ovens and a large chimney was erected.
The building continued to be used as a bakery for a number of years but in 1993 it was taken over by Total Sport, before shutting its doors for the final time in 2015.
Objections have now been lodged to the latest application, including one explained within a letter from the government’s Historic Environment Team, who are seeking the application’s refusal. ‘The reports issued are understood. However, the high bar of evidence showing that repairs are not possible has not been met,’ the letter said.
‘The repair of this building will be significant and costly. However, the development of the site for housing was strongly predicated on retention of this structure.
‘The retention also allowed for mixed use, contributing to the local area’s vitality and giving something back to the local
community in adding new facilities.
‘In addition, the building was to be restored externally, offering a unique heritage asset in the context of new residential development adjacent to a new public car park.
‘All these positives would be lost on the demolition and loss of the building.’
The Channel Islands Occupation Society have also objected to the most recent plans. Matthew Costard, the organisation’s heritage and planning liaison officer, says that it his group’s belief that the structure is not beyond saving.
‘The CIOS does not profess to have engineering expertise and we accept the findings of the surveys.
‘However, it is our belief that the bakery is not beyond saving and the main issue for the applicant is the unforeseen cost involved in strengthening and repairing the structure.
‘Perhaps a compromise could be reached with the retention of the façade and footprint with the reconstruction of the internal supporting elements and roof.
‘Although far from ideal, this approach would at least preserve some of the bakery’s essence and permit some degree of interpretation.’
