§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last discussed the present circumstances surrounding the Gourock ropeworks in Port Glasgow with Historic Scotland and the Inverclyde district council; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir Hector MonroHistoric Scotland is an executive agency within the Scottish Office and reports to my right hon. Friend on built heritage matters.
My right hon. Friend has recently received a letter from Inverclyde district council conveying the council's view that the Gourock ropeworks should not be converted for residential accommodation but should he demolished. He has noted that view.
The building is a category A listed building. Its demolition would require the granting of listed building consent, for which no application has yet been received. Historic Buildings
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those historic buildings, listed for their architectural merit in(a) Strathclyde and (b) Scotland as a whole which have subsequently been de-listed and demolished in each of the past 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir Hector MonroThe subjects of the question relate to matters undertaken by Historic Scotland. I have asked its Director and Chief Executive, Mr. Graeme Munro to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from F. J. Lawrie to Dr. Norman Godman, dated 8 February 1995:
You tabled a Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Scotland for written answer on 8 February seeking statistics on de-listing and demolition of listed buildings. As your Question relates to operational matters undertaken by Historic Scotland, Mr. Graeme Munro, Historic Scotland's Director and Chief Executive, has been asked to provide the information you seek. In Mr. Munro's absence, I am responding.I regret that we cannot answer the Question precisely as posed, since we do not keep a separate record of demolitions of listed buildings. Listed buildings may be demolished after the granting of listed building consent, but listed buildings are also lost from time to time by accident, such as through fire damage or structural failure.334WThe removal of demolished buildings from the statutory list would occur either through routine list maintenance or as a result of the rolling programme of national re-survey. Information on the annual number of deletions from the statutory list is only readily available from 1989; this information is as follows:
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Strathclyde 26 6 7 8 17 16 Scotland 704 374 123 23 81 44 Although we do not keep separate statistics to show why listed buildings have been deleted from the statutory lists, the majority of the deletions arise following re-assessment of merit under the re-survey programme.
I hope this information is helpful.