Hotel to be knocked down as council clears funding
The Anchor Hotel has been in Thetford well over a 100 years and is being knocked down to make way for a new development. Members of the Thetford Society Stuart Wright, Danny Jeffery, Stuart Wilson
A hotel thought to be more than 250 years old is in its last few weeks of existence after a council freed up £110,000 to knock it down.
Breckland Council agreed to release the money in order that the Anchor Hotel, in Bridge Street, Thetford, can be demolished - with work required to begin by December 9.
The decision was made at a meeting of the council’s Cabinet on Tuesday and will see demolition of the building and an interim landscaping scheme put into action.
What will replace the Anchor is unclear, with plans for a new development including a hotel, cinema and shops having been deferred by the council’s planning committee.
Stuart Wilson, of the Thetford Society, said demolishing the once-listed building before a replacement was agreed upon was ‘a tragedy’.
“No town centre masterplan is yet in place for Thetford and to go ahead with demolition is ridiculous.
“For a number of years we’ve had piecemeal development here and this will be more of the same,” he said.
The hotel has been boarded up since 2006, while a fire caused damage in 2008.
A report from surveyors, JP Chick & Partners, found that original timber frames were rotting and that a section of the roof had collapsed.
The report recommends that the building should be demolished ‘as soon as possible’ to prevent further collapse.
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Wednesday 19 June 2013
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