Bid to give major property in Morpeth's Bridge Street a new lease of life gets the green light

The large building at 15 Bridge Street was a town house when it was first built hundreds of years ago, but it was then used by Brumell and Sample as its base until it was put on the market last year.

After it was sold, the new owners submitted change of use plans to Northumberland County Council in January 2023 to return the building to a residential use for the holiday let business – with six apartments proposed.

The local authority’s planning department turned down the bid under delegated powers in September as they said that aspects of the plans would be ‘harmful to the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building’.

Following this ruling, applicant Alex Swinney decided to lodge a new bid with alterations. One of the submitted documents gives a direct response to the points raised by the council’s Conservation Officer in the first application.

The document also includes the following: ‘We can confirm that the new submission proposes five apartments rather than six as this allows us to directly respond to specific comments and positively resolve any issues raised.

‘We believe we have mitigated all matters raised and provided solutions that will satisfy the concerns raised.’

The planning department has once again made a decision under delegated powers and the revised application has received the green light.

The officer report includes the following: ‘Whilst there would still be some harmful alteration of historic fabric, this has been clearly and convincingly justified in accordance with paragraph 200 of the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework).

‘The proposals would amount to ‘less than substantial harm’, although this would be upon the lower end of the scale with an evident public benefit of securing a new viable use of the vacant heritage asset.

‘Various recommended conditions in relation to rooflights, joinery, secondary glazing, services, external repairs and access and landscaping would assist in ensuring the council retains a level of control over alterations to the building, thus ensuring appropriate working methods, materials and installations can be determined prior to the commencement of such works.’