City stack plans abandoned ‘due to neighbours’
SCRAPPED plans to set up a new Stack in Newcastle this Christmas risked disrupting hotel guests and schoolchildren, objectors had complained.
It emerged on Wednesday that proposals to create a pop-up Stack at the Stephenson Quarter, behind Central Station, had been abandoned amid concerns from neighbours. The Danieli Group had hoped to set up a temporary version of the popular shipping container venue next to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, having had to close the original in Pilgrim Street to make way for huge demolition works earlier this year.
But documents have revealed that the hotel, Royal Mail, and the neighbouring North East Futures University Technical College (UTC) all had worries about the plan. The Tyne Coast Academy Trust, which runs the secondary school, warned Newcastle City Council that Stack bosses had “ignored its potential next door neighbour being a school” and that the proposal “fails to take into account the noise that will be emanated close to an educational establishment where young children are being taught”.
In another objection letter lodged with the council, the company behind the Crowne Plaza wrote: “We are particularly concerned that loud music and noise resulting from patrons of the venue would cause a noise nuisance and would disrupt their sleep and enjoyment of the accommodation.”
Royal Mail, which has a delivery
office on Forth Street, also had “significant concern”. The postal service told the council that similar event spaces elsewhere had caused its drivers problems, with “crowds of pedestrians” gathering outside busy mail centres and causing “significant safety concerns as well as delays to its services”.
One public comment was made in favour of the plans, with the supporter saying it would be “wonderful” to see Stack return to the city. But heritage organisation the Northumberland and Newcastle Society said it was “unconvinced of this scheme adding any value to the generic strategic plan for the Stephenson Quarter”.
The Danieli Group confirmed that a new, permanent home for Stack will be at Worswick Chambers on Pilgrim Street, which is currently being redeveloped. The city council granted a licence for a food, drink, and entertainment hub to open there earlier this year – but councillors were assured at a city council hearing in July that the proposals did not constitute a direct relocation of Stack, following complaints that the original venue had been a “nightmare” for its neighbours.
When completed next year, that site will have eight bars, seven street food units, two cocktail bars, and a roof terrace.
Neill Winch, CEO of Danieli Group, said: “We know how much people miss not having a Stack in Newcastle so we are concentrating our efforts on creating what will become a flagship site back where Stack first began. Work is well under way on the scheme with a view to being open in winter 2023.”