The cottages at 3 & 4 Lows Lane, Stanton-by-Dale – birthplace of aviation pioneer Hugh
Oswald Short – have been demolished, despite widespread public opposition and urgent
calls for Erewash Borough Council to intervene.
The demolition comes less than two weeks after local residents first learned that
permission had quietly been granted. In response, campaigners launched a community
effort, and in just 10 days, gathered more than 750 signatures, submitted an application to
Historic England for listing, and appealed to the Council to pause demolition until heritage
assessments could be completed.
Those pleas went unanswered. Bulldozers moved in last week, levelling the cottages before
any decision was made on their historic status.
The buildings were one of the last surviving links to Stanton’s proud industrial past,
standing just yards from the former Stanton Ironworks, where Horace Short, brother of
Oswald, served his apprenticeship. Together, the Short Brothers went on to become
pioneers of British aviation – founding the world’s first aircraft manufacturing company and
shaping early flight from humble beginnings in Erewash.
Campaigners had hoped that Verdant Regeneration Ltd – a joint venture between two
long-standing family businesses, Ward and the Griers – would recognise that significance
and work with the community to preserve a small part of the site.
“People came together overnight – not to stop progress, but to save a story,” said one
campaigner. “We genuinely believed the developer and the Council would listen once they
understood the importance. Instead, the birthplace of British aviation has been reduced to
rubble.”
The Stanton Regeneration Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), adopted by
Erewash Borough Council, pledges that “buildings of local interest should be retained
where feasible.” Campaigners say this promise has now been broken, and that the Council
failed to act even when formally asked to pause demolition.
Adding to local anger, the demolition took place on the same day that the East Midlands
Combined County Authority (EMCCA) announced major new “growth funding” for the
area – naming New Stanton Park, the very same site, as a priority project.
For residents and heritage supporters, the loss of 3 & 4 Lows Lane stands as a painful
symbol of how local history can vanish almost overnight – not through neglect, but
through silence and ignorance.
