DEVELOPERS claim a former York music venue which squatters are occupying is ‘dangerously unsafe to be inhabited’ – and say a revised vision for the site is being drawn up which includes music, cultural and work space.
But the squatters say they have completed a risk assessment of the ex-Fibbers building in Toft Green and have informed people of the risks and mitigated them to the best of their ability, and say they are continuing to clean and tidy the property and make it safe for visitors.
The Press reported yesterday how squatters who were previously involved in occupying vacant land near to York Barbican, creating the ‘Barbican Community Centre,’ before being evicted from the site, were now inside the former Fibbers, which closed in January last year.
A spokesman for North Star said today it was working with the owners of the property, Toft Green Developments, to resolve the situation.
He said that as a local company that was trying to invest in York, it found the action ‘very disappointing,’ as it was trying to support the arts and cultural sector as much as possible.
“Where we have properties that are suitable for meanwhile use in the cultural sector, we donate them to good causes, as we have done with the Malthouse on The Crescent and the former Minster Van Hire centre on Micklegate previously,” he said.
“This building is dangerously unsafe to be inhabited and has major health risks, and does not have insurance for habitation currently.
“It also has an unsafe asbestos roof. If this building had been safe to host cultural events then we would have gladly done so as we have successfully elsewhere. A lot of the internal features, including the air conditioning units, have been gifted to The Crescent Club.
“A planning application is currently with the council and we obviously can’t legally do anything with the building until permission is granted.
“In the coming weeks, we will also be announcing a revised vision for this site which includes music, cultural and work space that will be fantastic for the city’s cultural sector.”
He said that if the protesters had come to North Star and asked for space to offer cultural use, then it would have happily worked with them to find somewhere suitable, as it had done with organisations in York previously.
The ‘Barbican Community Centre’ said in a statement that, regarding the health risks of occupying the building, the asbestos roof in question was not a risk to health, as it was undisturbed and out of reach, and they were being careful to leave it untouched.
“Before inviting people to the site, we completed a risk assessment, informed people of the risks and mitigated them to the best of our ability,”they said.
“We are continuing to clean and tidy the property and make it safe for visitors.”
They said they were happy to discuss with North Star about their ‘temporary and independent use of the space’ whilst it was left empty.
“However, our vision for the space is of a community centre that is run not-for-profit in order to benefit the people of York, and this differs from the interest of North Star, a commercial development company, who wishes to develop for profit,” they said.
“Fibbers is an iconic venue in the city and deserves to be renovated and reopened to the people of York.”
They said they had little confidence that North Star would support the establishment of a community centred space, events and music venue.
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