Conservation group steps-in in bid to save 'unsafe' Brandon station building
SAVE Britain's Heritage are calling for urgent action to save a listed building at the north Suffolk station
A heritage group says it's stepping-in an attempt to save a station building in north Suffolk, after it was found to be at risk of collapse last week.
Trains heading to Norwich are currently unable to stop at Brandon because of the risk posted by a listed building by the trackside, which has fallen into disrepair.
SAVE Britain's Heritage says its sending a specialist engineer to work out ways to save the structure.
The campaign group were involved in getting the historic building, which dates back to 1845, a Grade II listing two years ago.
Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, said:
“We are extremely concerned that Brandon Station is yet again under imminent threat. We urge Greater Anglia to consider all the options available to them to make safe this historic building in their care."
A Greater Anglia spokesperson said: “Following an inspection of the old station building at Brandon station on Wednesday 1 March, we were advised by our contractors that it was at potential risk of collapse. The listed building is on the Norwich-bound side of the station.
“It has been proposed to remove the roof as an emergency measure and contractors attended the site with demolition experts to determine how a safe system of work can be put in place to undertake that process.
“As it is a listed building, we are liaising with several organisations, including the local planning authority and Breckland Council’s building controls officer, to ensure that all relevant factors are taken into account.
"We will also engage with Natural England as the roof is home to a protected species of bat, who are currently in their hibernation period.
“In order to keep everyone safe, we have had to close the Norwich-bound platform while this situation is on-going. The station footbridge has also been closed.
“As a result, train services towards Norwich will not call at the station until the issue has been resolved, as customer and public safety is our priority.
“A rail replacement bus service is running between Ely, Brandon and Thetford to allow customers to connect to and from trains, which are calling at all other usual booked stations.
“Train services towards Ely are not affected and can still call at the station as normal. As soon as we can allow safe access to the Norwich-bound platform and enable eastbound trains to call there, we will update customers.”