October 2009 Archives

TOURISM and business in Wealdstone could get a boost if plans to demolish a derelict pub and build a 57-room hotel are agreed.
The part three- and part four-storey replacement building, on the site of the vacant Sam Maguire venue in High Street, would incorporate a franchise café on the ground floor, according to developers Macneil, a care home operator from Finchley, north London.
In lodging the new proposal, the company has withdrawn one submitted a year ago to tear down the pub and construct a four-storey care home that would have provided 24-hour care for elderly residents unable to live independently, and two shops at street level.
The man behind Macneil also owns Lukka Care Homes which in November 2006 won permission from Harrow Council to knock down The Flying Eagle pub in Mollison Way, Edgware, and in its place put up a 53-bed nursing home.
Harrow Council itself briefly looked into purchasing the Sam Maguire hostelry - formerly the Queen's Head - in September 2004, by which time the venue had long closed and was owned by the Punch Pub Company.

A DEVELOPER has submitted a second proposal to demolish a derelict Wealdstone pub to make way for flats after councillors rejected the first.
Fruition Properties was refused planning permission by Harrow Council in October 2008 to tear down the former The Case Is Altered boozer in High Street to make way for apartments. The firm then lost its subsequent appeal.
One year later and the firm has submitted a revised scheme to pull down the vacant eyesore building, which lies next door to Wealdstone Police Station, and build 36 flats and one shop in a five-storey block in its place.
Acton-based Fruition Properties says it has "resolved" the problems in the original plan that led to it being rejected: an over-intensive use of the site, and an adverse effect on the character of the Grade II building next door through its poor design and scale.
In its supporting statement, the developer says: "The high quality of architectural design will provide a safe and enjoyable environment for residents.
"The retail unit will provide employment, convenience and maintain commercial activity on the High Street."
It is planned to construct 17 one-bed flats, four one-bed bedsits, 14 two-bed flats and one three-bed flat - none of them affordable - with 37 bicycle spaces and no car parking, along with 447 sq m of shop space.

EXCAVATORS who dug up the patio of a Wealdstone house from which a pensioner disappeared eight years ago have found "nothing of note", it has emerged.
Don Banfield, a 71-year-old retired betting shop manager, was last seen leaving his home in Locket Road eight years ago, on May 13 2001.
Forensics officers took shovels to the property's garden last Thursday and a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman confirmed at the time the possibility of finding the Mr Banfield's remains had not been ruled out.
However, she said today: "Our search has finished at the address. Officers are going to be leaving that address in the next 24 hours.
"Nothing of note was discovered but our enquiries do continue. They're exploring other avenues of investigation. We cannot discount that Don Banfield is alive and well."
The search of the pensioner's former residence, which he is understood to have shared with his wife, came a week after a fresh witness appeal was made through the media.
It appears a tip-off received by the police as a result of this - the nature of which the force is not prepared to divulge - sparked the week-long patio dig.
The spokeswoman said: "This missing person enquiry, like others which are older, has been continually reviewed and it was decided that further avenues of exploration could made. It is an extension of the original enquiry."
Mr Banfield is described as a slim 5ft 6in tall black man with brown eyes and receding grey hair. He has a tattoo of a heart on his left hand.
Trindadian Mr Banfield speaks with a prominent West Indian accent and is known to be a heavy smoker.
Prior to his disappearance, Mr Banfield frequented areas within west London, in particular Shepherds Bush and Wealdstone.
n Anyone with information is asked to call the Harrow Missing Persons Unit on 020 733 4335 or call the confidential National Missing Persons Helpline on 0500 700 700.