Developer 'blindsided' as plan for new Newcastle aparthotel, gym, cafe and underground car park thrown out

Councillors have voted down plans to regenerate the former Wingrove depot of the Newcastle Corporation Tramways, in Westgate Road.

The historic building dates back to 1903 and is now largely vacant, with only a section of the long, rectangular site used as a tyre shop.

Proposals lodged last year by Newcastle Car Wash Ltd outlined a vision to turn the tramsheds into a 50-room aparthotel, with a gym, cafe, and underground car park.

But those plans were knocked back by Newcastle City Council’s planning committee on Friday.

Ahead of the meeting, city planners had said that the proposed 59-space basement car park would “undermine the prioritisation of the use of sustainable transport” in a busy part of the city.

They also said the applicant had provided insufficient information on noise attenuation measures or a full appraisal to prove that stability risks posed by shallow coal mine workings in the area could be mitigated.

Local Labour councillor Joyce McCarty spoke in favour of the development at Friday’s committee hearing, saying that it would protect a site that was “part of the city’s history and heritage” and add to the economy of the West End.

The Newcastle tramway system, which opened in 1901, once had more than 300 trams in service around the city, but it was gradually replaced by buses and the last tram was withdrawn in 1950.

Coun McCarty said that the applicant felt “blindsided” by the council and claimed the local authority had asked for additional information at the “eleventh hour”.

James Thomas, the developer’s planning consultant, requested that the application be deferred to allow more detailed work to be carried out to address the council’s concerns.

He said the vision represented a “significant opportunity to regenerate a long vacant building within a sustainable urban location”.

However, the committee voted seven to one to refuse planning permission.

Coun Marion Williams, of the East End and Associates Independents group, agreed that it would be good to see the tramshed given new life but said that councillors “would be negligent to approve this because there is too much [information] missing”.

She added: “I really want this to work, but I cannot see it working as it is.”

Labour councillor Barry Phillipson added: “One of the things committee has to take into account is safety concerns. It is important for this committee to ensure that anything granted planning permission in the city is structurally sound and safe for the residents or occupiers of whatever is being put in place.”