Success for £5m police station redevelopment

Hadrian Property’s revised proposals for the regeneration scheme in Newcastle’s West End have secured the go-ahead after two earlier plans were stymied.

The overall intention is to convert the former police station, now vacant for six years, into 15 apartments and add a new build drive-thru unit to the site, which would replace the western wing of the station building.

Consent was twice denied in 2019, with a subsequent appeal also failing, in November 2021, when a planning inspector ruled that designs for a proposed drive-thru and remodelled tower were unacceptable as proposed.

With a new architect engaged in IDPartnership, and Hexham-based Hedley Planning Services advising Hadrian, the developer overhauled its plans, with the principal elevation divided into three sections with the central area recessed, breaking up the mass of the building. Ground floor retail units will provide a more active frontage onto Westgate Road.

The conversion of the existing tower into 15 one-bedroom apartments across the three upper floors is now set to move forward. A proposed restaurant/café with associated drive-thru facilities to the west of the site is also scheduled under revised plans that include three other retail units.

A number of new trees and other planting will be introduced to the site, which will also feature 28 parking spaces in total.

The station site has been vacant since 2017, when it was put up for sale after Northumbria Police transferred its operations to its city centre base at Forth Banks. The site sits opposite the former Newcastle General Hospital.

Work is expected to start later this year.

Sean Hedley, managing director of the planning firm, said: “We have worked collaboratively with the local planning authority to ensure a high-quality design that will transform the west end of Newcastle. We very much look forward to redevelopment; bringing back to life an important site that will deliver social and economic benefits to the community through imaginative regeneration and fresh investment.

“As planners, we want to see urban regeneration of brownfield sites and the re-purposing of existing buildings to deliver a strong legacy. This one undoubtedly heralds major changes to this part of the city.”

Two previous proposals were blocked. Credit: IDPartnership