Breaches of planning and listed building control at a prominent city centre site have resulted in substantial fines and costs being awarded against a Lancaster-based company and one of its directors, Zubeir Mister.
During sentencing at Preston Magistrates’ Court, the company 107 Penny Street Ltd was ordered to pay a fine of £54,000 and a £160 victim surcharge, whilst Zubeir Mister, 49, of Standen Park House in Lancaster, was ordered to pay a fine of £5,000 and a £128 victim surcharge. Lancaster City Council’s costs, to the sum of £17,319.77, were ordered to be paid jointly by both defendants.
In addition, Mr Mister received a four-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, alongside a Community Order of 250 hours unpaid work.
The case was the latest court appearance in relation to the former Alexandra Hotel, Penny Street, Lancaster. The Grade II listed building has been the subject of internal and external works, which Lancaster City Council argued did not have the benefit of the required consents.
The charges related to the company’s breach of Section 7 and Section 9 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, and a breach of a Listed Building Enforcement Notice served by the city council. Mr Mister was charged with two offences of causing (by consent, connivance, or neglect) the company to commit the above offences.
Earlier this year the council also secured an order from the courts preventing the company and Mr Mister from carrying out works to the property that would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest.
The order also instructed the defendants to undertake works to the property in order to reinstate it to the condition that it was in on 1 June 2020.
Councillor Sue Tyldesley, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Planning, said: “This has been a long-running and complex case which has required considerable resources from multiple teams within the city council. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to the council’s Planning Enforcement Team, conservation officers and legal officers for securing this outcome. The case is by no means concluded, and our exhaustive efforts will continue in order to ensure the best outcome for this much-loved historic building.
“Our Planning Enforcement Team are investigating similar breaches of listed building control elsewhere in the district, including in the city centre. This sentence acts as a warning to those who have little respect for our heritage. The message to those that flout listed building regulations is that regardless of how long it takes, the council will pursue all avenues in bringing those responsible to justice.”
Alexandra Hotel was originally built in 1902, owned by local brewery, Yates & Jackson. Many Lancastrians will probably better remember it as the Revolution Bar. It later became The Catholic Social Club, a popular venue for LGBTQ discos until 1976.
By 2021, it had been closed for the past six years, and Zubeir Mister submitted plans to remove all existing furniture, bar and equipment, install new wriring, flooring, plumbing and new ceilings thoughout. Crumbling masonry and window sashes would, it was claimed, also be restored and new furniture installed.
In October 2022 it was Lancaster Civic Vision who highlighted issues with a significant number of prominent listed buildings in the city, Alexandra Hotel among them. They were concerned that the upper floor windows of the Alexandra Hotel had been removed, and the building was now at the mercy of the forthcoming winter elements, and that action needed to be urgently taken if the building was not to become unstable and dangerous.
“Lancaster and Morecambe is an important district for history and heritage, the area having more listed buildings than any other area in the North West, with the exception of Liverpool,” they noted.
“One of the most visible to everyone entering Lancaster from the South – both residents and visitors to the area – is the Alexandra Hotel which has been a major landmark since it was built in 1902.”
In 2023, the Council served a Listed Building Notice on its owners in relation to the unlawful removal of windows, reinforced by court action in early 2024.
In early 2024, local MP Cat Smith reported that, along with Labour Party councillors, having previously pushed Lancaster City Council to undertake a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO), the City Council had served a Listed Building Enforcement Notice which was challenged by the owner and so she wrote to the Planning Inspectorate urging them to do the right thing, and reject the appeal. She also argued the Hotel should be subject to a Compulsory Purchase Order.