Redrawn housing proposals rejected
ASECOND attempt to turn a former Newcastle bowling alley into housing has been thrown out by council bosses.
Plans to partly demolish the wellknown ten pin bowling venue on Westgate Road and redevelop it into flats had been rejected by Newcastle City Council last year, having been labelled “absurd” and a “huge mistake” by objecting locals.
And now a scaled-back version of that vision from developer Capital Properties Solutions has also been dismissed by civic centre planners.
The redrawn proposals would have seen the vacant building converted into seven apartments and a 36-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO), rather than the bigger 68-bed HMO that was originally planned.
But the latest bid to overhaul what is one of the West End’s most recognisable buildings has failed again.
The council warned that the scheme “would not provide a high quality environment and a good standard of residential amenity for future occupants”. Northumbria Police also warned that it had “serious concerns”.
The empty bowling alley, most recently known as The Bowl, shut down following the Covid pandemic’s crippling impact on the leisure industry. The site, formerly the MFA Bowl, had previously closed down in 2018 before being relaunched.
Prior to that, the building has enjoyed a rich history dating back more than 100 years. It originally opened as the Brighton Electric Theatre in 1911 and later became a cinema in 1947.
Capital Properties Solutions had argued in its submissions to the council: “The host building has been vacant for a number of years, and its reuse is likely to prove difficult due to its particular design and style. It is already falling into a state of disrepair and it would be extremely beneficial for a viable use for the building to be found.”
But while the developer said it had been “every effort” to minimise alterations to the building, conservation bodies were not convinced.
The Newcastle Conservation Advisory Panel commented that the latest design “still falls substantially below the standards that should be required of a building of this prominence and stature”.
The Northumberland and Newcastle Society said: “We believe this application is an improvement on the previous scheme but nonetheless it still lacks appropriate detail and shows little recognition for the status of the building. In our assessment there is a clear opportunity for a better thought out scheme with due respect to the history and character of the building.”
Northumbria Police also raised concerns over the development, with officers saying they were “uncomfortable” with its scale given that Elswick is “generally considered to be overpopulated” and the site is “directly adjacent to two crime and incident hotspots”.