Council '˜doing all we can' to support owners of Wellingborough's Hind Hotel

The Northants Telegraph reported earlier this week that councillors would be discussing The Hind in Sheep Street, Wellingborough, at a meeting next week.

With the building deteriorating over the past 15 years but no significant repair works carried out recently, members of Wellingborough Council’s development committee are being asked to approve that the appropriate enforcement notice is served on the property owners and all interested parties.

Ahead of the meeting, a statement released by Wellingborough Council today (Friday) said: “The council has been advised that the owners and current occupiers of The Hind Hotel are facing severe financial challenges.

“This is sad news as we have been working with successive owners over several years to bring the listed building back to its former glory, being one of the key historical properties in the town centre.

“With the help of the Lottery-funded Town Heritage Initiative, the council has been able to gain access to significant funding which could provide essential repairs and improvements to The Hind, but so far the management of the hotel have not fully taken advantage of that, despite significant support and advice from the council’s planning team.”

Council leader Martin Griffiths said: “The Hind has been a landmark in the town centre for nearly 400 years.

“The council appreciate that a historic building of this age will be a huge liability for its owners and we are doing all we can to support them in their efforts to access funding which will help them complete essential repairs as well as ongoing improvement to this significant important heritage building.”

If the owners of the property are unable to ensure that the listed building is maintained and preserved the council will step in to do essential works, but any expenditure will be recovered from the current or successive owners.

To read more about next week’s meeting, click here