THE owner of one of Northallerton's landmark buildings that has fallen into disrepair was accused of "demolition by neglect" this week.

A scheme to knock down part of The Mount, the former maternity hospital on Yafforth Road, was withdrawn this week after criticism from planners and Northallerton Town Council.

The town council on Monday voted to recommend the plan for rejection and the local civic and history societies had also opposed the development.

The application earmarked a section of the 18th century listed building and its outbuildings for demolition, with the rest of the main part to be redeveloped ready for an unspecified future use.

Speaking at the meeting, the mayor, Coun Jack Dobson, said the reason the building was in such a sorry state was due to the owner, Nick Fordy, of Walter Thompson.

"I cannot beat the words of one of our townsfolk who called it demolition by neglect and that is what it is," he said. "When the hospital handed over this building, the staircase was still in place, as were the windows, coving and ceilings.

"This is a bridge too far. There has been no historical or architectural assessment and therefore there is no justification in what they are trying to do. There has been no assessment of the cost of repairs and no efforts made to re-use the building."

Coun Roy Ashman said it was strange that the building's owner worked so close to it but had not been able to send any of his workers to guard it or carry out repairs.

Couns David Blades and Tony Hall both backed the scheme. Coun Blades said much of the deterioration was due to vandals getting in.

Maurice Cann, head of development control at Hambleton District Council, said talks were ongoing to revise the scheme. "We were unhappy with the original proposal," he said. "I have spoken to the applicant and we have agreed a more positive way forward.

"The current application is to be withdrawn and their architect is meeting some of our people, including our conservation officer, to discuss re-submitting the application.

"Potentially this could see the demolition of the outbuildings, which are of no consequence. We will only consider any application for demolition of the main building when we have an application to redevelop the site."

Nick Fordy strongly denied that the building had been left to rot. "We have had a terrible problem with vandals and drug dealers," he said.

"It is not demolition by neglect. We find that very offensive."

He said that discussions were ongoing over plans to revitalise the building. "We have taken the first application back because we recognised maybe it was not the right one.

"But we are re-evaluating it. We have had long consultations with Hambleton District Council and especially with Maurice Cann. We both recognise that this building is an emotive issue. We have agreed that the outbuildings will come down, to secure the site. Otherwise, somebody is going to get hurt there."

. Town council report: page 10