Old Building Saved

It is gratifying, for once, to see that the High Court in Belfast has effectively overturned a planners' shameful decision to permit the demolition of an old Victorian building in Queen Street, Belfast.

I commented about this about three months ago.

The building's finest feature is a carved stone door-case, the archway being supported on red granite colonettes with grape and acanthus capitals. The keystone boasts an Elizabethan gentleman's head, sporting a long beard, ruff and hat; flanked by shields, oak-leaves, roses and acorns; with bosses of thistles and shamrocks.

The Honourable Mr Justice Treacy was told on Friday that the application to quash the planning permission decisions was no longer being resisted.