Fresh bid to give major property in Morpeth's Bridge Street a new lease of life

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.

Last month, the local authority’s planning department turned down the bid under delegated powers, despite the principle of residential holiday lets in that location being deemed as acceptable, as they said that aspects of the plans would be ‘harmful to the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building’.

Their report also stated: ‘Whilst the local planning authority have no objection to the installation of replacement doors and the repair and restoration of existing windows, concerns were raised regarding the design of the proposed rooflight and the provision of a new opening upon the northern elevation at third floor level.

‘These concerns were relayed to the applicant during the application process. However, no revisions were undertaken to the scheme to address these concerns.’

Following this ruling, applicant Alex Swinney has now 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 strongly believe that working hand in hand with the Conservation Officer is paramount in this application and we believe we have mitigated all matters raised and provided solutions that will satisfy the concerns raised.’

Brumell and Sample began trading in the town in 1770. It is now known as Savage Silk Law and its Morpeth office closed at the end of April 2022, although a full range of services are still available via the Savage Silk website.