Demolition and Salvage: Demolition Case Studies

Bournemouth - demolition of derelict grain silo in Bournemouth town centre, near Poole Bridge

It was a red letter day on Poole Quay to mark the demolition of the eyesore grain silo, derelict for more than 20 years.

Valentine's Day saw council leader Cllr Brian Leverett and ward councillor Chris Bulteel celebrate the start of work to fell the tall tower.

“I came in on the council in 1983 and this was an item on the first planning committee I went to,” said Cllr Leverett. “To my knowledge this has been 25 years.”

“I have certainly pushed and worked with the developer and their agents to get to this point and I am delighted to see it's coming down”

The prominent site near Poole Bridge in the Quay Conservation Area is an important part of the regeneration of the town.

Stanborough Developments has planning permission to build 64 flats and a ground floor retail unit in two blocks, varying in height from five storeys at the front to seven at the back, with parking for 70 cars.

“ It's an eyesore, a blot on the landscape,” said Cllr Leverett of the silo. “To see it down is a very important step in the regeneration of the town centre.”

The concrete warehouse on the site has already been demolished and now a high reach crane with a grabber attached will nibble away at the concrete walls of the silo building, destroying it piece by piece.

Peter Traves of Traves-James Architects, representing Stanborough, said the multi-million development would take 18 months to build once the site was cleared.

Various planning permissions has been sought over the years but the site remained derelict and in 1999 placard waving residents called for the “rat infested bombsite” to be tidied up.

Cllr Bulteel said: “I have been campaigning for this for years now. But I never gave up hope that it would happen.”

Article: Daily Echo