CONSERVATION experts in York have lost their fight to save Reynards garage from demolition.

Councillors on a planning committee voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to allow the 1920s building in Piccadilly to be torn down, in the face of pleas from the civic trust and from other councillors.

The 11 members of the area planning sub-committee heard from the chief of York's civic trust, and from Green party councillor Dave Taylor, who both said that pulling the building down without any plans to replace it went against the principles of good conservation planning.

However, in the face of warnings from council staff about the increasingly poor condition of the building, the councillors voted nine - two in favour of demolition.

York Press:

The building today, and in its heyday

Committee chairman John Galvin said the building "scared the pants off" him, and challenged his colleagues to weigh benefits of keeping the building standing for any longer against the risk that falling masonry could seriously hurt someone.

Earlier, the Civic Trust's David Fraser said Reynards - once the home of Neville Shute's pioneering Airspeed factory - was an industrial building with an interesting past which would be "cherished" in many other English cities.

He said experts on the Civic Trust's board of trustees did not support its demolition, and he warned councillors that no one had asked the right questions about how much it would cost to keep the building safe and standing in the short term, while a proper redevelopment plan could be made.

Dr Fraser added: "This building should either remain as a restored building, or be replaced by something that contributes positively to the city.

"This application [to demolish] is unnecessary and premature."

Cllr Dave Taylor echoed his concerns, adding that independent consultants' reports did not support claims the building was in a dangerous condition.

He said a proposal to the council from Yorkshire Air Museum and Northminster Properties for a Airspeed attraction in the building was still a viable proposal, and later branded the decision to demolish the garage a "disgrace".

His Green party colleague Denise Craghill, a committee member, argued the planning application should be deferred at least until promised update on the council's Southern Gateway redevelopment for Piccadilly had materialised later this year. But without the support of other councillors, Cllr Craghill's proposal fell.