Bunker site development welcomed for Hexham
05 Nov 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Northumberland County Council has welcomed a £20million development which is set to bring 60 new permanent jobs and an estimated £2.16 million visitor spending to Hexham.
The scheme, by Union Property Development, will see a 69 bed Travelodge hotel, a Lidl food store, and a 250 space public car park on the former ‘Bunker’ site, off Alemouth Road.
Permission was granted today (Tuesday 5 November) by the council’s strategic planning committee.
The development will also see improvements to the existing roundabout at the Alemouth Road and Station Road junction, including widening the road and creating of a fourth arm off the roundabout into the new site.
Cllr Cath Homer, cabinet member for culture, arts, leisure and tourism, and also a Hexham councillor, said: “The new hotel and car parking will provide much needed new facilities for visitors to the town, improving the tourism offer, raising the profile of Hexham and encouraging longer stays in the area.
“The new car parking in particular will give a huge boost to Hexham, supporting local services and businesses and alleviating pressure on parking in the town centre.
“The scheme will also mean improvements to the adjoining road and pedestrian networks.”
Cllr Richard Wearmouth, cabinet member for economic development at the council added: “This scheme represents a very significant economic investment in the town, as will bring a long-term vacant site back into use.
“This is one of a number of developments that are in progress in Hexham which will help to revitalise the town.”
The site is known as the ‘Bunker Site’ due to a large cold store that formerly occupied it and was converted by the Government into a nuclear bunker in the 1980s. This has since been demolished and the site has been vacant for a number of years
Planning permission was granted subject to a number of planning conditions, the completion of a Section 106 Agreement, a financial contribution to ecological mitigation and a sum to deal with flood risk in the car park area.
The planning permission included outline approval for up to 1,600 sq.m of development of planning use classes A1- A4, in two units, with associated car parking.