Owner of listed church ordered to pay almost £125,000
THE owner of a listed church in a conservation area has been hit with a council’s highest ever
financial penalty of almost £125,000 for continued failure to carry out repairs.
Purvis Construction NE Ltd – which owns grade two listed St Aidan’s Church at Blackhill – has
been ordered to pay £124,800, after being taken to court a second time by Durham County Council
in relation to the condition of the now-closed property.
Magistrates heard the company has failed to start or complete any work to address the state of
disrepair the church was found to be in, leading to an enforcement notice being served in November
- This week, the court chose to impose a financial penalty of £500 for each day that has passed
since the first prosecution – the maximum amount allowed.
Cllr Lyndsey Fox, the council’s Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: “St Aidan’s
occupies a prime place in Blackhill and its listed status and the fact it is within the local conservation
area add to its importance locally.
“Regrettably over time it has been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair and that has upset a lot
of people living in the area who regard the old church as an important part of their heritage. We
share their concerns and that is why we served an enforcement notice compelling the owner to
carry out work.
“More than a year and a half later and despite the company being ordered to pay £10,000
following our first prosecution, no work has been started or completed. We are really pleased that
the court has taken this latest prosecution so seriously and has meted out what amounts to our
highest ever financial penalty.
“We hope that penalty might serve as food for thought for any property owners who might not
look after important heritage assets as well as they could.”
It was last December that Purvis, based at Silksworth Road in Sunderland, was first prosecuted by
the council. The church had fallen into such a state of disrepair that it was no longer wind or
watertight, and was having a negative impact on the appearance of the surrounding area.
Prior to that, in November 2023, the council served a Section 215 maintenance notice which
required the company to carry out repairs to the building’s roof, including replacing or fixing broken
and missing slates, lead flashings and ridge tiles. It also required that gutters, downpipes, troughs
and pipe works be cleared and repaired; missing or defective window security screenings be
replaced; and overgrown trees or shrubs on the boundary of the property be cut back.
However, the company failed to respond to the notice within the 16 weeks it was given to act,
resulting in it being taken to court by the council and, after failing to turn up, being ordered to pay
£10,000. Nevertheless, despite being made aware of the conviction, the company has to date failed
to start or finish any of the works. This failure amounts to a separate offence which the council
brought before Peterlee magistrates.
The company again failed to attend and has now been hit with financial penalties totalling
£134,800 in relation to the church.
