TV star McCloud joins fight over 'iconic' office

TV presenter and architecture champion Kevin McCloud has joined a fight to save Shropshire's Shirehall from being demolished.

He has stepped in after the nine-acre site of the former Shropshire Council headquarters in Shrewsbury was put up for sale, with a preference for housing to be developed.

The council's Lib-Dem leader Heather Kidd says the mothballed building costs too much to maintain and selling it is the most prudent option given the authority's serious financial struggles.

But Kevin McCloud, who presents Channel 4's Grand Designs, has said the "unique" building should be re-used by the council instead of having its fate decided by developers.

"Shirehall is not listed but it is considered by every important architectural authority as a fine and important building of its time," he wrote.

"It represents the best of 20th Century Modernism, a movement that is now hugely popular."

"Its contribution to Shrewsbury is to add a different British flavour, an extra ingredient to give the town more spice, more tourist appeal," McCloud continued.

"Take it and its purpose away and Shrewsbury joins the futile race to become like every other town in the country, where distinctiveness is sacrificed in pursuit of the shiny and bland."

McCloud has encouraged the council to consider the environmental impact of allowing demolition to take place, saying there should be greater focus on retrofitting and refreshing the building, especially as it remains in "good condition".

Shropshire Council hastily vacated Shirehall on Abbey Foregate at the end of 2024 under the leadership of the previous Conservative administration.

The six-storey office block had been poorly maintained for decades and was seen as a big drain on financial resources.

Since then, the council's fiscal situation has worsened, prompting the new Liberal Democrat administration to sell the site to generate capital income.

The authority is looking to borrow about £90m from the government in this financial year, following two previous successful requests for Exceptional Financial Support, so selling the building would be of assistance to reduce the borrowing.

The decision to sell Shirehall had also be backed by independent local government finance expert Chris Buss.

In a report, Buss concluded that "the financial position in which the council now finds itself means that the council simply does not have the financial capacity to act or fund any development activity".

The council's Reform UK group leader Dawn Husemann, the Shrewsbury Civic Society and Save Our Shirehall campaign are all keen to engage with prospective developers that may want to repurpose the building.

Husemann chaired a cross-party Task and Finish Group, which spent eight months looking at alternatives to knocking it down.

"It is iconic and of its time, and history and heritage matters," she said.

"If the [Liberal Democrat] administration and council had chosen to engage with us, they would have seen how achievable it is to regenerate a whole area with thoughtful and award-winning refurbishments."

"I wanted us as a council to be able to hold our heads high knowing that we had explored all the opportunities, and that we had sought best value for our residents," Husemann continued.

"The destruction of Shropshire's civic heart will be the administration's lasting legacy."

Responding to the criticism, Kidd said she was fond of the building but accused Reform of failing to fully grasp the authority's financial emergency.

"They demand more efficiency and call for public spending to be reined in," she said.

"Yet when it comes to the Shirehall site, they want more public money poured into it for little gain.

"Clearly, they haven't thought this through at all. Continuing to pay money for nothing is no longer an option."

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