FIRE damage was recorded at historic buildings 38 times over the last 10 years, with other incidents going unrecorded, according to The Detail.
Despite an August 2011 ‘call to action’ by then Environment Minister Alex Attwood, heritage crime remains a major problem, with fires still a regular occurrence.
Mr Attwood’s comments were made at a Heritage Crime Summit in Hillsborough, which was organised following a spate of fires at listed buildings, culminating with a blaze at Herdman’s Mill in Sion Mills just weeks earlier.
Despite government concern about the deterioration of sites due to fire damage, the authorities have been challenged about the success of initiatives introduced to prevent fires as well as their use of available enforcement powers such as compulsory purchase and urgent works notices.
A DoE spokesman told The Detail that the summit had proved effective in tackling the problem of heritage crime.
“Action by the department to ensure that owners kept their vacant listed buildings secure through the service of Urgent Works Notices had the desired effect and such incidences have reduced dramatically,” the spokesman said.
However, analysis of the data confirms that fires remain a problem, with 12 recorded in the four years following the 2011 summit.
Another fire at Herdman’s Mill last month raised further questions about the achievements of the summits. However, the department believes improvements have been made.
Many of the buildings that have suffered fire damage also appear on the Built Heritage at Risk register – for example, Mahon House (Portadown), Tyrone Courier (Dungannon), and Lisnaskea Workhouse as well as Herdman’s Mill and Crumlin Road Courthouse.
A number of well publicised fires – such as a June 2015 blaze at Crumlin Road Courthouse and a July 2012 incident at the former Downe Hospital do not appear on the list provided by the department, suggesting the true figure for the number of fires may be higher.
To date, just one at-risk building, Sion Stables in Sion Mills has been the subject of a DoE compulsory purchase.
Today the facility is fully restored and operational as a heritage centre and cafe.
According to Francis Hood, the project manager at Sion Stables, it is surprising the model implemented in the Co Tyrone village has not been used more often.
“The stables is the only building that has been vested by the DoE in the north of Ireland, which is very interesting because when you look at the number of heritage buildings that there are and you look at the power the DoE have in exercising the ability to vest buildings you do wonder why this is the only one that it has happened to,” he said.
In relation to why only one building has been the subject of a compulsory purchase, the DoE said: “Given the significant governance arrangements that need to be put in place when a building is vested by the department, we seek to work with owners to ensure the effective conservation of our historic environment.
“When vesting is undertaken by the department, it is important that the building - after it has been acquired through compulsory acquisition - can be conserved through partnership with others.
“This means that a Building Preservation Trust, or a similar charity with a central focus on rescuing listed buildings, is willing to take on and complete the necessary repair and conservation of the vested building.”
