Morpeth Riverside building withdrawn from market and set for demolition

Tenders received for its development did not meet the authority’s aspirations for the site

It had been hoped that the building, situated in the Newmarket area of town, would be a “key opportunity site” for the town as it is situated in a central location, overlooking the River Wansbeck and opposite Carlisle Park.

The building is owned by Northumberland County Council and the authority has been exploring the future use for the site for a number of years, to find one that best suits the needs of the town.

The council will now look to demolish the building and will consider the future use of the site working closely with local stakeholders.

The Morpeth Riverside building became redundant when a new state-of-the-art £21m leisure centre and community services hub was built on the site of The Terrace on Gas House Lane.

Savills's estate agents were appointed to market the site.

Deputy Leader of Northumberland County Council Richard Wearmouth said: “The site is on the green river corridor and in the setting of the Conservation Area within the town centre so we wanted any development on it to impact positively on the town.”

“We had a good level of interest from a range of prospective purchasers and have carefully considered the tender proposals, but none met the aspirations for the site.

“We have been out to tender twice now and unfortunately both times the bids have not been what we had hoped for. We will now be working with key stakeholders in the town to come up with future proposals for this site."

He added: “In the local neighbourhood plan, it is a key opportunity site which would lend itself very much to an employment site. The problem with Morpeth is it’s in a basin, so there’s very little space in the town centre.

“We’re always keen to develop new economic opportunities in the town centre. We’re not short of housing – there is 1,800 new houses being built on the site of the former St George’s Hospital.

“There is also plenty of town-centre living already with the site at Benfield being redeveloped into supported living accommodation. We’re hopeful that in due course someone will come forward with an economic use – we’re really keen to see something that creates jobs and hopefully have a hotel or something similar, subject to it being financially achievable.”