Plans for new £21m leisure centre and community hub in Northumberland look set for approval next week

Councillors are recommended to approve the plans despite concerns.
An artist’s impression of the new leisure centre and community services hub in Morpeth.An artist’s impression of the new leisure centre and community services hub in Morpeth.
An artist’s impression of the new leisure centre and community services hub in Morpeth.

The plans for Morpeth’s new £21million leisure centre and community hub are due back before councillors for a decision.

Members of Northumberland County Council’s strategic planning committee are advised to give the go-ahead to the new facility, which would be located on The Terrace site, Gas House Lane, at their remote meeting on Tuesday, June 2.

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This is the first planning meeting held since the coronavirus restrictions came into place and the usual public speaking slots have been replaced by a council officer reading out written submissions from objectors, supporters and local members. It will be live-streamed on the authority’s YouTube channel – youtube.com/NorthumberlandTV

The application had been due to be decided at the March 3 meeting, but was withdrawn from the agenda at late notice because there were some concerns from the Environment Agency about the proposed flood defence scheme.

Councillors were told that some further information was submitted to be looked at by the Agency, but it wasn’t done in time for the application to be considered, which Coun Richard Dodd described as ‘shoddy’.

While the scheme is recommended for approval, the council’s planners do have concerns about the development, but have come to an ‘on-balance’ conclusion that the benefits outweigh these concerns.

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It is worth noting that the planning officer’s report has been toned down since the last meeting, with some of the negative impacts played down.

For example, the first report said that the building would ‘completely change the character of’ Gas House Lane and ‘result in a significant structure extending the entire length of the site, creating a long, dead frontage’.

The new version reads: ‘The building would alter the existing character of this street and result in a large building extending the entire length of the site, creating a long frontage.’

The conclusion on the design section which said that ‘the scale of the building is inappropriate in a townscape setting’ has now become ‘it is accepted that the building will become one of the largest within Morpeth town’.

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Both add that ‘the architectural treatment of the building helps to mitigate and soften the overall impact’.

In the report’s overall conclusion, a paragraph from the original report which states that ‘the proposal clearly would miss the opportunity to address many of the existing issues in this part of Morpeth and deliver the significant wider public benefit that could be achieved’ has been removed completely.

The leisure provision is set to include a six-lane swimming pool with spectator gallery, a learner pool, spa facilities, a four-court sports hall, a new 100-station fitness suite, a dedicated spinning studio, large fitness studios, a café and soft play.

The proposals also incorporate a new community services hub that would see the town’s library move back to its former home on Gas House Lane, a customer service centre and a new adult learning facility.

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Parking would be located to the west of the building and a pedestrian boulevard would be incorporated to provide enhanced connectivity with Bridge Street.

Last October, just before the application was submitted, the council’s cabinet agreed to increase the budget for the project from £18million to £21million to cover the community services hub, flood mitigation work and some additional leisure facilities.

It was hoped that, if approved, work would start this spring, with a projected completion date of October 2021, but it is not yet clear how this may be affected by the three-month delay and coronavirus.

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