New Northumberland hotel development planned for site off A1

An outline application has been submitted to the county council for a hotel, business hub units including retail, an electric vehicle charging station and car parking at the bottom of Stannington Station Road, south of Morpeth.

The site, on the opposite side of the road from the current petrol station and the Indian restaurant Char Mausum, comprises two distinct parts – a former petrol station and a former bungalow, known as Bardon.

All buildings have been demolished, however, the fuel tanks have not been removed and the site still has a concrete footprint and remnants of brickwork, while the former residential plot is now overgrown.

According to a planning statement submitted as part of the scheme, the ‘design of the hotel at this stage is envisaged to be based on Premier Inn-type buildings deploying clean simple lines set within a modern architectural design’.

The design ‘will be mindful of the fact that the site lies within the green belt’, it adds, meaning ‘it is anticipated the hotel will be three storeys in height so that its potential impact on the surrounding area and landscape is kept to a minimum’.

The hotel would have the largest footprint of the four buildings as it is the ‘anchor’ for the overall development, although the design will be the subject of a detailed reserved matters application.

Explaining the rationale, the document highlights that the hotel would offer ‘convenient access’ to the likes of Newcastle Airport and the Northumberland National Park, while ‘the importance of the A1 in connecting the north to the south of England means that there would be a high proportion of business travellers on the road and additional bed spaces with easy access to the strategic road network would be welcomed’.

Access would also be a plus for the co-working hub as it ‘would provide an ideal location for business travellers who need temporary workspaces’.

The statement adds: ‘‘Rural enterprise hubs have the potential to be more than purely physical business spaces but provide a space for sharing knowledge and ideas across rural business sectors.

‘This can be a vital resource for lone workers to collaborate with others in the community.’

Along Station Road itself, a decision is awaited on an outline application for four houses and a new access road on land north of number 31, to the north of a site where a bid for three homes was refused by the council before being allowed on appeal.

Meanwhile, the detailed reserved matters application for the first house of two on land west of number 62 – which were given outline permission in 2017 – has also been lodged.

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