South Shields Town Hall clock tower set for repair - council submit plan
The clock tower on South Shields Town Hall is set to be repaired and temporary scaffolding put up.
Plans for temporary scaffolding at South Shields Town Hall to enable "essential maintenance" to its historic clock tower have been submitted.
South Tyneside Council has submitted an application to its own planning department seeking listed building consent for works to the Grade II-listed civic site.
This includes the "erection of temporary scaffolding to the clock tower and associated fixings into masonry to facilitate works to the bell installation".
A supporting heritage and design and access statement outlines the town hall's "significant architectural and historic interest" and states the clock tower forms a "prominent and defining feature of the skyline".
It was noted that the "masonry fabric contributes strongly to the building’s significance and must be treated with care in any intervention".
Plan for safe access to the clock
The council is seeking permission for temporary scaffolding to the clock tower to "enable safe access and lifting operations associated with the bells, hammers and clock faces".
In addition, the project would include the "installation of temporary mechanical fixings (pins) drilled into mortar joints and/or masonry to secure the scaffold structure".
Supporting planning documents note the scaffolding is needed due to the "weight of the bells and associated lifting operations" and that "conventional non-invasive scaffold methods" were "not sufficient in this case".
The heritage, design and access statement adds: "The use of mechanical fixings into masonry is the only viable method to ensure structural stability and safety of operatives and the building.
"Without these fixings, the essential maintenance and operational works to the bells could not be carried out."
Those behind the scheme said the scaffolding was designed as a temporary enabling structure and that its "form and fixing strategy are driven by structural and safety requirements".
It was noted that the proposals were "minor, localised, and reversible" and that there would be "no permanent alteration to the building’s character".
‘Essential maintenance’
Following the scaffold removal, all pins would be extracted and holes repaired using "lime-based mortar compatible with the existing fabric", or "indented stone plugs where required," according to the council.
It was noted that the proposed works were "necessary to facilitate essential maintenance to the clock tower bells and cannot be achieved without the use of temporary masonry fixings."
A decision on the listed building consent bid is expected following a council consultation.
For more information, visit South Tyneside Council's planning portal website and search for reference 260276.