When Salford City Council added the old Manchester Racecourse Turnstiles to its list of local heritage assets it noted that they had `aesthetic, social and communal value', describing them as "An attractive colonnade lining a main artery in the city and read in association with a historic sporting venue".
Last month, behind closed doors and without anything being seen by councillors on the planning panel, it was agreed to demolish them, along with Castle Irwell Student Village.
The Manchester Racecourse Turnstiles, on Cromwell Road, were part of the gateway pavilion to the track, built around 1900 and first used in 1902. The boarded up arched entrances are almost all that is left of the original course which closed in 1963.
A few years before the Racecourse shut, a new stand was built which was one of the first `fully cantilevered reinforced concrete stands' to be built in Britain, and the first with private viewing boxes. This pavilion, later used by Salford University students union, was never listed despite its historic interest, and was torched recently, ending any hope of this happening.
The turnstile entrances were the last vestige of the area's heritage that had been preserved, apart from the Racecourse pub on Littleton Road, and there was little chance of saving them as a local listing isn't worth the paper it's written on.
Historic England notes that "Local listing does not affect the requirements for planning permission. Some buildings can be demolished without planning permission and local listing does not affect that, although an article 4 direction issued by the local planning authority can reinstate the requirement for planning permission for demolition of a locally listed building."
The only body that could save the turnstiles is Salford City Council but its officers have already agreed to Salford University's application to bulldoze them, pushing through a `delegated decision', which councillors sat on the planning panel are expected to endorse this week.
The Council reports and decision notice don't even mention that the turnstiles are locally listed. There's just a cold plan of the demolition sites stating, `Castle Irwell Student Village', `Castle Irwell Pavilion' and `Castle Irwell Ancillary Buildings (Laundrette, Boat House and Gate House)'...
According to the demolition application, there are no immediate plans for the site's use.
For more information on the Racecourse see previous Salford Star article: Memories of Manchester Racecourse Salford – click here
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