Midhurst fire: Frequently asked questions (updated 18 May 2023)

Following the major fire at The Angel Inn hotel and neighbouring buildings on the A286 North Street in Midhurst, the Multi-Agency Recovery Group has produced a series of Questions and Answers to help answer some of the questions it is receiving from the local community.

How did the fire at the Angel Inn and neighbouring properties start?

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (WSFRS) responded to the incident, and they are currently investigating the cause of the fire. Their investigation is being impacted as the building is not yet safe to enter. WSFRS are working with the owners and their insurance representatives at this time.

Who is responsible for the recovery process?

The recovery process is being managed by a multi-agency group, which includes: Chichester District Council, South Downs National Park Authority, West Sussex County Council and Midhurst Town Council.

Who is responsible for what?

Chichester District Council

Chichester District Council was responsible for setting up a rest centre to care for those affected by the fire until alternative accommodation could be found for them.

The council's Building Control Team attended the site a number of times during the incident, including in the early hours on the morning of the fire and later in the day, to assess the structural safety of the buildings and to provide West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service with advice on the stability of the structures and potential dangers. Our officers requested that the owners cordon off the fire damaged buildings to protect public safety. Building Control Officers continue to regularly monitor the site and cordoned area from a safety perspective and are supporting the owners and relevant agencies in assessing options for shoring up the building.

The district council is now chairing the Recovery Coordinating group, which has set up two sub-groups: an Environment and Site Clearance Recovery sub-group and a Business Recovery sub-group.

The Business Recovery sub-group is working directly with local businesses and Chichester District Council has pledged £300,000 to help the town to recover. The money will be used in a variety of ways to help the town get back on its feet and encourage footfall in Midhurst. As part of this, the district council has implemented a grant scheme for Midhurst town centre businesses, which is currently available. More information can be found on our latest news web page.

This scheme is not related to business rates, which are determined by the government and which have separate support schemes available — anyone wishing to know more about this, can visit the council's business rates web page. or the Government's business rates page. The council's revenue team has been offering advice to those businesses who pay business rates. The majority of businesses in Midhurst do not pay business rates due to their size and because they receive small business rate relief. However, the council has been in touch with those who do to make sure that they are aware of all of the support that is available to them.

In addition, the district council has also given £10,900 to the Midhurst Town Team to help with promotional work to encourage people back into the town and it has seconded a member of its Economic Development Team to support businesses in the town for the two months following the fire. He has already been in contact with over 100 businesses.

To help support the town centre in the first few weeks following the fire, Chichester District Council offered free parking in its car parks for a period of a month (until 16 April). The effectiveness of this was reviewed and in consultation and agreement with the Business Recovery sub-group, which includes Midhurst Town Team, and following feedback from Midhurst businesses, it was decided that the normal car parking incentives were more effective in encouraging people to visit the town to shop and spend with our local businesses. The normal parking incentives help with turnover and capacity in the car parks, which we understand from Midhurst businesses are very important to help ensure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to park and support the town. Customers can still access periods of free parking in The Grange car park, where they can benefit from two hours free parking per day, or in either the Post Office and North Street car parks, where they will receive an hour free per day. Customers will need to display a ticket or use MiPermit to obtain their stay (even during the free period). People can easily extend their stay by using the parking machines or using MiPermit. On-street parking restrictions remain in place as usual.

Chichester District Council is currently co-ordinating the communications on the work of the multi-agency recovery group and they are regularly issuing updates through their website and social media channels.

South Downs National Park Authority
South Downs National Park Authority is the local planning authority for the Midhurst area and so is responsible for working with the owners of the buildings and their insurers on assessing future options for the building under national planning legislation and policy. They have also been working with Historic England, as the national adviser for listed buildings, because the buildings are historically and architecturally important.

They have also made their offices available for well attended community drop-in sessions.

West Sussex County Council
West Sussex County Council is the highway authority and is responsible for local roads, road closures, diversions and highway signage. They were also the initial lead on the response following the emergency, but as we are now in the recovery stage this has been passed to Chichester District Council.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue first responded to the incident and are currently investigating the cause of the fire.

Midhurst Town Council
Midhurst Town Council has been supporting local businesses and residents following the fire and identifying issues that need to be responded to on a daily basis.

Why isn't just one agency dealing with this?

Each agency involved in the recovery process has different powers, roles and responsibilities — all of which are needed to respond to this incident. Be assured that all of the agencies are working closely with each other to resolve this difficult situation as soon as possible. At the beginning of this document, we have outlined who is responsible for what.

Who is responsible for shoring up the building and what action is being taken?

This is the responsibility of the owners with input from structural engineers, South Downs National Park Authority Planners, Chichester District Council Building Control team and the insurance companies.

The South Downs National Park Authority has met with the owner and their structural engineer, both on and offsite, to discuss the best and fastest way to protect the listed building and open the road to get Midhurst moving.

Following a meeting between the owners of the properties affected by the fire, their insurance professionals, and the multi-agency recovery group on 19 April, it has been established that the owners have been unable to agree a viable way forward to stabilise the listed building, which would allow the road to be reopened in a reasonable timeframe.

Given the legal obligation to preserve what is possible of the listed buildings and to address the significant impact on Midhurst and the surrounding area, its community and businesses, the South Downs National Park Authority has taken the decision, with the support of Chichester District Council and West Sussex County Council, to step in and use statutory planning powers. The South Downs National Park Authority quickly appointed a structural engineer who has designed a solution to shore up and protect the listed buildings.

On 11 May, the South Downs National Park Authority appointed a contractor to ensure the fire-damaged listed buildings are safely and legally secured. This will then allow the road to be reopened in both directions by West Sussex County Council. The South Downs National Park Authority, working with West Sussex County Council and Chichester District Council, continues to actively liaise with the owners of the buildings, local businesses and other agencies involved to ensure that the necessary work begins as soon as possible. The contractor aims to be on site on Monday 15 May and the work is expected to take seven weeks to complete. This is not only the best option for the listed buildings but is also the fastest option to enable the road to be safely opened for vehicles in both directions.

The situation has been a very complex one, and public safety is paramount. Once the façade of the building has been made secure and safe for the public, it will be possible to reopen the road (A286 North Street) to vehicles.

What are the South Downs National Park Authority's statutory powers?

The statutory powers we are using (i.e. the Urgent Works Notice) are expressly for works that are urgently necessary to preserve listed buildings.

How often does the South Downs National Park Authority use these statutory planning powers to shore up a listed building?

The South Downs National Park Authority has issued Urgent Works Notices for the works that are urgently necessary to preserve the listed buildings. It is very rare to use these statutory planning powers as the legal requirement to preserve listed buildings sits with the owners. In this case we have stepped in given the lack of progress in shoring up the listed building which is also preventing the road from being opened and causing real distress to the local community and businesses.

Why will the work take seven weeks?

This is complex and specialised work and there are significant health and safety issues to be considered when working on the fire-damaged buildings. A tender was sent out to a number of different contractors who all responded with a proposed programme of work. These ranged between 7 and 20 weeks.

Why is this the fastest way to get the road open to vehicles?

The multi-agency group has looked at all options to safely and legally secure the listed building, in order to enable the road to be reopened to vehicles. Demolition would require listed building consent. Both this and the delisting of a listed building are formal processes with a number of different stages and take significant amounts of time, well in excess of the seven weeks that shoring up will take.

What does the shoring up work involve?

This is a complex project with significant health and safety considerations. Support scaffolding has to be designed and installed to the facades of both listed buildings to prevent their collapse. Support scaffolding has also to be installed to the flank wall of the Angel Inn adjacent to Angel Yard to prevent the collapse of this wall and to allow vehicular access into Angel Yard once again. A number of chimneys at the Angel Inn also have to be demolished (or removed down to a safe height) as they are currently at risk of uncontrolled collapse.

Can the emergency services get through if the crane is in position?

Yes. The crane has been positioned to one side of the carriageway to enable access for emergency services even while the crane is up. The emergency services have met with contractors and agreed to this approach.

Who's paying for the shoring up of the buildings?

In a move to speed up the shoring up of the buildings which will, in turn, enable the road to be opened, the South Downs National Park Authority, Chichester District Council and West Sussex County Council have agreed to jointly fund the work to shore up the buildings.

Whilst public money will be spent to shore up the buildings, we will use legal means to recover these costs from the owners.

The fire happened on 16 March. Why has it taken all this time to get some action to shore up the building?

This is a really complicated situation with very real health and safety issues. It is the owners' responsibility to shore up and preserve the listed buildings, but in a meeting on 19 April between the multi-agency recovery group and the owners, it became apparent that the owners were unable to access insurance payments to carry out a viable solution in a reasonable timeframe. This is why the South Downs National Park Authority, supported by Chichester District Council and West Sussex County Council, immediately took action to step in and use its statutory powers. In the week following this, a structural engineer's report was commissioned and a specification for shoring up delivered.

On 11 May, the South Downs National Park Authority appointed a contractor to ensure the fire-damaged listed buildings are safely and legally secured. This will then allow the road to be reopened in both directions by West Sussex County Council. The South Downs National Park Authority, working with West Sussex County Council and Chichester District Council, continues to actively liaise with the owners of the buildings, local businesses and other agencies involved to ensure that the necessary work begins as soon as possible. The contractor aims to be on site on Monday 15 May and the work is expected to take seven weeks to complete. This is not only the best option for the listed buildings but is also the fastest option to enable the road to be safely opened for vehicles in both directions.

Why haven't you just pulled the buildings down?

As the buildings are listed and are of historical importance, even though they are fire damaged, it would be illegal for anyone to pull down the buildings without Listed Building Consent. The Structural Engineers involved in assessing the building and Historic England believe it is possible to save some parts of the buildings, and so the owners are legally required to try and save what they can of the buildings.

Will it be possible to restore the building and have the old frontage back?

The structural engineers and Historic England have said that they believe some parts of the building, particularly the façade may be saved. As these are listed buildings this means that there is a legal requirement to conserve what we can. Only once the buildings are safely shored up and a thorough investigation carried out will it be possible to determine how much of the building can be actually saved in the long term.

Will keeping the damaged facade add to the cost and time taken to clear the site and re-build?

Since the façade cannot be demolished without listed building consent, which would take many weeks, if not months, it is likely that shoring the facade is the most rapid way to reopen the road.

The building is just a shell and an absolute mess. Why not just bulldoze the whole lot and start from scratch?

As the buildings are listed and are of historical importance, it would be illegal for anyone to pull down the buildings without Listed Building Consent. The Structural Engineers involved in assessing the building and Historic England believe it may be possible to save some parts of the buildings, and so the owners are legally required to try and save what they can of the buildings.

Once the building is shored up and the road re-opened, then what happens?

The owners will need to consider how they wish to use and develop their buildings into the future. It is likely that there will be redevelopment behind the facades and this will require planning permission. Given insurance timescales, any planning applications may be some time off.

If South Downs National Park Authority can over-rule Historic England about keeping the facade why haven't they?

The owners would have to formally apply for listed building consent to demolish the building and this process can take many weeks/months. This difficult work would then need to be carried out safely and so it would not necessarily speed up the ability to be able to open up the road.

Who at South Downs is in charge?

There are multiple senior specialist staff across the organisation working on getting the listed building secured as soon as possible. We will be providing regular updates through the media and local social media groups and will also provide direct updates to key stakeholders including interested local businesses. The communications will be managed by our Communications & Engagement Team and all enquiries can be directed to them at press@southdowns.gov.uk

Why is it taking so long to reopen the road to vehicles?

We recognise how difficult this is for both residents and businesses and we are committed to reopening the road to vehicles as soon as we possibly can. The agencies must ensure public safety — once the façade of the building has been made secure and safe for the public, it will be possible to reopen the road (A286 North Street) to vehicles.

How long will the road be closed for? The Traffic Regulation Order referring to the closure of North Street lasts for 18 months and on One.Network it says it will be closed for 3 months.

We will reopen the road to vehicles as soon as it is safe to do so. West Sussex County Council is required to apply for a Traffic Regulation Order when any road is closed and this lasts 18 months although this does not mean that the road will be closed for this period of time. It also has to apply a timeframe to the road closure on the One.Network website. Again, this has no relation to when the road will reopen. We will provide a clearer indication of the time frame for the reopening of the road to vehicles as soon as we possibly can.

What have you done about signage?

West Sussex County Council Highways team have put signage out to make sure that people are aware of the diversions that are in place and to make it clear that the businesses on North Street are still open for business. They have taken feedback onboard and have moved some signs and added others and will continue to monitor and amend restrictions as appropriate. The Town Team have used some of the money given to them by Chichester District Council to pay for additional signs with more localised messages. Chichester District Council has also put some 'Welcome to Midhurst' banners up around the area in the interim period to show that the town is open for business.

Who is responsible for the diversions?

West Sussex County Council Highways team have organised diversions with related signage at key locations. To ease congestion, temporary one-way restrictions have been put in place on the lanes surrounding Midhurst and other options are currently being considered. The diversions and one-way restrictions are also being monitored and adjusted where needed. Drivers are urged to follow official diversion signage, with more information available at One Network.

The county council is also aware that local roads are seeing significantly higher volumes of traffic than usual due to the diversions. They are increasing their targeted inspections and repairs and are also regularly reviewing works in the wider area to reduce disruption as much as possible. The team has also been responding to reports of potholes in the area and are encouraging people to report these online.

Why is the diversion route so long?

The diversion route utilises A-Class roads and must be suitable for all types and weights of vehicles known to have travelled via North Street before the closure. The diversion route was agreed alongside our network coordination team, who take into account other works that may be on an alternative route and suitability of said route. Whilst we are aware that sat navs may direct users around the closure using local roads as the quickest possible route, we would encourage drivers to be aware of the suitability of those roads for the type of vehicle they are driving before attempting to use them. WSCC has placed some one-way restrictions to reasonably assist with traffic control, however whenever there are road closures like this on key routes, the local network will always see an increase in traffic movement which, whilst regrettable, is unavoidable.

How are you supporting residents in Angel Yard?

We understand how challenging the situation is and all of the agencies involved have been doing everything they can to support the residents in Angel Yard in Midhurst. A number of actions have been taken in response to a range of residents' concerns, including access and parking arrangements. In addition to getting the road open for vehicles as soon as possible, a priority is to ensure that the shoring up of the side of the Angel Hotel enables vehicle access for Angel Yard residents. We are in regular communication with them and will continue to support them during this difficult time.

We have also been in contact with the charity Age UK, which has offered support to any residents who are feeling isolated.

Why can we no longer park for free in Midhurst?

In order to help support the town centre in the first few weeks following the fire, Chichester District Council offered free parking in its car parks for a period of a month (until 16 April). The effectiveness of the free parking period was closely monitored during this time. It became apparent that the normal car parking incentives that are usually in place were more effective in encouraging people to visit the town to shop and spend with local businesses. These help with turnover and capacity in the car parks, which Midhurst businesses require to ensure that as many people as possible to have the opportunity to park and support the town. This decision was made following feedback from local businesses and in consultation with the Business Recovery Group, which includes Midhurst Town Team.

How are you helping businesses?

Chichester District Council has set aside £300,000 to help Midhurst to recover following the fire at The Angel Inn and the neighbouring buildings. The money will be used in a variety of ways to help the town get back on its feet and support businesses in Midhurst. As part of this, the district council has developed a grant scheme for town centre Midhurst businesses, which is currently available. They must be based on North Street, Rumbolds Hill, West Street, Red Lion Street, Knockhundred Row, Bepton Road, Grange Road or Market Square to qualify. In order to apply, businesses are being asked to email: business.support@chichester.gov.uk and they will then be sent a form to complete as part of the process. More information can be found the latest news page.

This scheme is not related to business rates, which are determined by the government and which have separate support schemes available — anyone wishing to know more about this, can visit the council's business rates web page. or the Government's business rates page. The council's revenue team has been offering advice to those businesses who pay business rates. The majority of businesses in Midhurst do not pay business rates due to their size and because they receive small business rate relief. However, the council has been in touch with those who do to make sure that they are aware of all of the support that is available to them.

In addition, a further £10,900 had already been handed over to the Town Team for promotional and marketing purposes. More information can be found on our latest news web page.

The district council has also seconded a member of its Economic Development Team to support the businesses in Midhurst for the two months following the fire. He has already been in contact with over 100 businesses. The team has set up a business recovery group, involving local businesses from the town. It also organised two drop-in information events for local residents and businesses to provide information and help, alongside representatives from South Downs National Park Authority and West Sussex County Council Highways Team.

In order to help support the town centre in the first few weeks following the fire, Chichester District Council offered free parking in its car parks for a period of a month (until 16 April). The effectiveness of this was reviewed and in consultation and agreement with the Business Recovery Group, which includes Midhurst Town Team, and following feedback from Midhurst businesses, it was decided that the normal car parking incentives were more effective in encouraging people to visit the town to shop and spend with our local businesses. These help with turnover and capacity in the car parks, which we understand from Midhurst businesses are very important to help ensure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to park and support the town. Customers can still access periods of free parking in The Grange car park, where they can benefit from two hours free parking per day, or in either the Post Office and North Street car parks, where they will receive an hour free per day. Customers will need to display a ticket or use MiPermit to obtain their stay (even during the free period). People can easily extend their stay by using the parking machines or using MiPermit. On-street parking restrictions remain in place as usual.

Have you asked the Government for support?

Senior officers from Chichester District Council have met with Government officials to lobby them for funding support for Midhurst businesses. Although no official funding sources are currently available, Government officials have said that they will look into this further and come back to the council.

Are waste and recycling collections affected?

They are operating as normal at the current time, but we would encourage people to download the Chichester District Council 'app', which provides personalised notifications on changes to waste and recycling collections.

How frequently are you issuing communications and where can be find them?

Since the fire, the Multi-Agency Recovery Group has issued at least one media release a week, with two being issued most weeks, which are available on Chichester District Council's website and social media channels. Further updates on social media and through Chichester District Council's weekly District Dispatch column in the Observer series have also been issued. Regular updates have also been included within Chichester District Council's e-biz newsletter for businesses and through the council's general email newsletter. Updates have also been sent to business groups, community groups, stakeholders, and community Facebook pages.

In addition, Chichester District Council has also been meeting with the businesses on a weekly basis, supporting them with the recovery phase. Our Economic Development Officer has been seconded to support Midhurst businesses for two months following the file and he has already been in contact with over 100 businesses. The district council has also seconded a member of its Economic Development Team to support the businesses in Midhurst for the two months following the fire. He has already been in contact with over 100 businesses. He is also working with a group of businesses to help deliver a recovery plan. Promotional plans to encourage people to visit and shop in the town have already started, with key activities due in the coming weeks.

Chichester District Council has also organised drop-in sessions for both residents and businesses, with representatives from West Sussex County Council and the South Downs National Park Authority. We would advise people to visit the latest news page and Chichester District Council's social media channels.

Where can I access updates?

Chichester District Council

Chichester District Council is currently co-ordinating the communications on the work of the multi-agency recovery group and they are regularly issuing updates through their latest news page and social media channels:

They are also encouraging people to download the Chichester District Council 'app', which provides personalised notifications on changes to waste and recycling collections.

People can also contact Chichester District Council on: 01243 785166

West Sussex County Council

News updates web page
General enquiries: 01243 777100

South Downs National Park Authority

News web page

General enquiries: 01730 814810

Midhurst Town Council

Website

General enquiries: 01730 816953

Date of Release: Tuesday 25 April 2023
Updated: 3 May 2023

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