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Concerns grow over High Street building





This week water was pouring in to the basement of the complex adjacent the Co-op store, while parts of the rear outer structure are rotting away.
In August the Hungerford edition of the Newbury Weekly News reported how Hungerford Town Council secured an undertaking in principal that the Grade II listed building, Number 16, High Street, (incorrectly numbered 15 and 15a) should be renovated.
Mr Crane said at the time: “We have been trying for years to get them to do something about the state of it. It’s a distinctive building right in the town centre which has been allowed to fall into disrepair over some 40 years.”
“They have now conducted a survey and I believe they will have found that there is little alternative to a major restoration project and that it is not just a case of a lick of paint.”
Hungerford Historical Association has also taken an interest and offered advice on restoration.
Now, however, Mr Crane has written back to the executive, stating: “I was bitterly disappointed to learn from a resident of this building today that water seepage into the cellar had not been stopped. In fact she has reported that it is now incoming at an alarming rate and will soon put the very foundations at serious risk.
“Whilst I have no technical knowledge of the plumbing of the house, it would appear that the cause of the flow is not an internal pipe but entering from an external source. “As you know I had hoped to report to the full council on the state of play with your stated intention to renovate but, alas, had no response to enable that report to be lodged.
“May I ask, as a matter of some urgency, that you instruct a qualified engineer to inspect and perform remedial works before the damage done becomes a matter of public safety and thus create huge damage to the image of the Co-op in Hungerford and perhaps even further afield?”
Among the building’s long-standing residents are Viv and Rita Long.
Mrs Long, a dance teacher, and her retired butcher husband moved in following their honeymoon in 1955.
She said: “A year ago a water tank burst and water cascaded down through the building.”
Flood damage from that incident is still apparent and the basement was this week filling with water, pouring down walls and spraying onto the floor.
However, spokesman for the Co-op, Dave Smith, said that the leak has now been fixed.
He added: “We repaired the leak in the basement within 48 hours of being notified. We’re now looking to carry out further repairs and refurbishment work, for which we’re currently seeking tenders.”





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