Plans to build new houses on former coking plant has caused outrage

[snugglewuggly]

Near to where my parents live there are plans to build lots of new houses on the forming coking plant, some residents are up in arms as apparently it is disrespectful and trying to erase local history. AIBU to think life needs to move on and the coking plant has been closed down for years.

What do they plan to have there instead of houses? a disused coking plant?

Who is going to pay for the upkeep, and keep it safe for people who break into it (ie adolescents usually)?

Is it open to the public, or just a disused place full of potentially toxic byproducts behind a locked gate and heavy-duty fence?

Towns & cities change they aren’t theme parks maintained to preserve old days
People need to live somewhere,and If there is demand it’s beneficial for arear too
Frankly I'd relax planning regs and build on the green belt too

There might be a few objections due to the history but, if it’s like here, surely the objections are mostly because of the safety of the proposed site due to contamination/shafts, not enough GP’s & schools not being big enough.
www.barnsleychronicle.com/article/20302/controversy-over-ex-coking-plants-housing-plan

I'm guessing it will cost a fortune to clear the land of chemicals so I'm sure they will build the houses with respect. Perhaps they could name one coking cottage.

They could turn it into a museum I guess but there won't be much money in that.

Cleaning up the site would be the responsibility of the developer, I think. I remember, a while ago, some company being very keen to offload an industrial site (gas processing I think it was) so they wouldn't have to pay for the clean-up. As far as I know it is now up to the owner to pay for any chemical contamination found on land they own, rather than the person who did the contaminating in the first place.

I studied and worked as an archaeologist for a while. It's important that we preserve the past without hindering progress. It hard to find a balance sometimes but in general we try to preserve the best examples of something this often means it's something in really good condition and a great example of that type of thing. We obviously can't preserve everything and we shouldn't preserve everything.

The challenge comes once you've Listed (ie formal protected something) and the state/owner/etc has a duty of care to ensure that thing maintains condition and doesn't deteriorate. It costs lots of time and money. Things can be delisted, my old school was delisted a few years ago and knocked down to make way for a new school (or rather the car park). I have a bigger issue with delisting something than with never listing something and consequently it potentially being destroyed.

It's likely that before any destructive works occured that the site will be recorded in some way by an archaeologist (or team depending on size) but potentially not preserved in any way. And this is ok, coking plants are well recorded generally and we have a not insignificant amount remaining that might be in better condition or better representative. The builders may decide it's cheaper to mitigate some of the destruction so it's also possible it won't all be destroyed.

TL:DR you aren't wrong. We can preserve all the things we'd like to just because we want to. Things needs to be recorded but we also need to move forward.

Times move on but I miss the giblets, there used to be one at many of the crossroads at the edge of town. Quite a deterrent for the baddies, I believe.

Giblets!

I too miss the giblets. Chicken gravy's not the same without them...

I miss the giblets. Hardly ever available unless it's Christmas. Makes it a bugger to make proper gravy.

I was rather heartbroken when they took down the all the surface things from Bates Colliery and replaced it with the new Fire Station.

I get it but I feel something visible should have remained to commemorate the pit that was part of the start of the miners strike. Everyone in Blyth was affected.

For me the old fire station was where my Dad was born/grew up and obviously since demolished and the pit was my Mums brothers and Dad worked.

Part of history gone forever that was a huge part of my childhood.

I don't understand the constant refusal to accept we need to build more houses.

Oops giblets!
I think I must have been integrating it with being hung, drawn and quartered!

Some people are just too sentimental. Our village has a lovely new primary school and people are complaining that the old one is being pulled down. It's an ugly old thing and needs to go, but they're carrying on as though it's St Paul's or something 🙄

In my town they demolished the old birthing unit thousands of children were born there tons of memories and it was a wonderful old classic building no one murmered old churches beautiful stainglass windows all went under the wrecking ball for housing no one cared but try and knock down a PUB for housing it was uproar then they knocked down the sugar beet factory for housing I thought they would blow a gasket that site was unsafe already injured children but the people wanted it to sit and rot rather than go for housing

Im amazed they can decontaminate the land enough to make it safe tbh. The ex coking plants near us are both unsuitable for human habitation - 1 site was reclaimed and is now used for industrial purposes, the other is a rather nice nature reserve (just dont disturb the soil or let water run off it).