Row over Highbury Roundhouse

Published: 24 September, 2010
by PETER GRUNER

The Highbury Roundhouse, threatened with demolition, is at the centre of a row over who was responsible for allowing the venue to fall into disrepair.

The ruling Labour council accused the previous Lib Dem administration of not spending cash on refurbishing the building when they held power. However, the Lib Dems said that Labour was merely point-scoring.

The district surveyor has closed the main building, saying it is too dangerous to use. As reported in this paper last week, Roundhouse directors have appointed their own structural engineer, who believes the building can be saved.

But it has emerged  that four years ago when the Lib Dems were in power, £250,000 was earmarked for repairs to the building. Directors of the venue believe that the money was “frittered away” on surveys and reports, feasibility and viability studies. Only £70,000 remains.

Executive member for regeneration, Labour Cllr Paul Convery, accused the Lib Dems of allowing a “decade of neglect” that has caused the building to deteriorate badly. 

“The council owns the Ronalds Road building,” he said, “and our predecessors had ignored warnings about its worsening state.” But former council leader Lib Dem Cllr ­Terry Stacy said: “I’m extremely disappointed that Cllr Convery feels that he can make cheap political points about an issue that really matters to the ­people of Highbury. Yes, money was secured by Lib Dem councillors for the Highbury Roundhouse. Some was used for emergency repairs and some for ongoing feasibility studies and surveys of the building which would have been instrumental to any refurbishment or repairs. But it was only the Lib Dems who pledged a new Highbury Roundhouse.”