HEREFORDSHIRE Council has been accused of double standards and a cover-up for allowing repair work at Shire Hall to go ahead without having listed building consent.

Councillors are extremely concerned that builders are currently working on the 19th century grade II* listed building without the required permission to do so.

Council workers and members had to be relocated from the building earlier this year after part of the ceiling collapsed.

Proposals have been submitted for listed building consent to replace the defective lathe and plaster ceilings, but these are yet to be approved.

Central ward councillor Jeremy Milln said he was recently frogmarched from the building during a site visit.

“I’m enormously disappointed in this. I’ve been barred from entering,” he said.

“The officers have become very defensive and have not accepted my offer to help resolve this situation.

“They have not been open and accountable, and it does not conform with the Nolan principles of public life. It feels like a cover-up.

“With planning regulations, it should be one rule for all. This does not send out the right message.”

Councillor and Hereford Civic Society chairman Milln objected to the proposals in April and said the scheme was unlawful as the work had already commenced.

“Indeed, it has already been largely completed and therefore the application needs to be resubmitted as a retrospective,” he said in his written submission.

“Hereford Shire Hall is a nationally important historic building by an architect of considerable standing.

“The lathe and plaster ceilings are part of the original fabric of the building and are therefore important contextually.”

Hereford city councillors also objected to the proposals on May 1.

A city council officer said: “The application amounts to a quick but damaging repair job, which could have been avoided if the appropriate bodies were consulted.

“Councillors were very disappointed that Herefordshire Council should allow an application like this to go ahead, when under the same conditions, this work from a different applicant would have surely been rejected.”

But the council’s historic buildings officer says he supports the scheme.

“The proposals would not materially affect the significance of the listed building and as such would accord with policies within the adopted Herefordshire Core Strategy and revised national planning policy framework.”

The council is expected to decide whether or not to give itself permission by May 22.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: “Urgent works are underway to remove debris and repair a collapsed modern ceiling in the basement of Shire Hall, following detailed consultation with Historic England and the council’s building conservation officers who have worked with the council’s property services team to find an innovative solution to this historic defect.

“The work is being undertaken by our contractor to an agreed specification and a listed building consent application was submitted.

“The repairs are being undertaken urgently to prevent further damage and to protect the health and safety of those at Shire Hall. Areas of historic plasterwork are being conserved insitu, and once completed, the repaired ceilings will ensure the longevity of the building and the safety of staff and visitors.

“The work is being undertaken by our contractor to an agreed specification and a listed building consent application was submitted.

“The repairs are being undertaken urgently to prevent further damage and to protect the health and safety of those at Shire Hall.

“Areas of historic plasterwork are being conserved insitu, and once completed, the repaired ceilings will ensure the longevity of the building and the safety of staff and visitors.”