Brunswick Arcade

Across the road from yesterday's empty church stands Brunswick Arcade. Built as the sign says in 1890 and like the curate's egg it's good in parts. The northern end is in pretty good nick with a newsagent (Pickwick Papers, where I used to get my papers from many years ago) and a couple of restaurants though one of them is undergoing renovation. No, the trouble lies, as you can see below, at this near end which is or was nearly collapsing from neglect and decay. Now this is a conservation area and no doubt these buildings are listed ( I haven't checked) and as members of the public tend to resent buildings falling on their heads the Council has been put in the position of having to pay for scaffolding to prop up a building it does not own. Price, according to local press, a mere £200,000. Fine you might say, an emergency required emergency action except the emergency was back in 2011! Every week costs the Council £150 just for inspections required by law. No sight or sound of the people this wreck belongs to. The Council are quoted in the paper as saying "Any costs will be recovered from the owners", it's good to live in hope, don't you think?