NCC Council Offices, Newgate Street, Morpeth

Grade II listed former local authority offices in the town centre that offers an opportunity for redevelopment through conversion. The building is now vacant for some time, having been declared surplus. A relatively high density is considered to be appropriate, recognising the location within central Morpeth and likelihood of a conversion to flats. An initial application for 17 dwellings, provided through a combination of conversation and new-build development, was refused in 2018, with the subsequent appeal dismissed the following year (17/00884/FUL). After this, two alternative schemes have recently been permitted. The first is for alteration and conversion of the listed building to 13 flats, alongside construction of 4 new dwellings on land to the rear, approved in 2018 (18/00336/FUL). Later, another revised scheme, just focussed on the listed building conversion to create 12 apartments, was permitted in 2019 (19/00692/FUL). This latter scheme did not include any new-build aspect. Both permissions were concurrently extant, meaning either could be delivered, but in the end the initial permission was progressed. The first units were completed in 2020/21 and to date the 4 new-build properties and 7 of the apartments have been completed. The remaining 5 conversions are still outstanding. These 5 flats are considered deliverable in the coming five years.