West Orchard House, Allendale Road, Hexham (brownfield parcel)

Site to the west of Hexham town centre comprising of the existing West Orchard House and adjacent land, some of which is vacant. The north east of the site had also been occupied by an ambulance station and associated classrooms for training/teaching, but this had been cleared following earlier relocation to a new site. The site/building has had a number of other uses, including a funeral directors, garages, and offices for the Red Cross. Largely brownfield site with small element of greenfield land. The overall SHLAA site is mixed but a reduced yield recognises a focus on the brownfield land (0.24ha). Brownfield element as been considered suitable for small-scale development of 6 units in the past. For indicative purposes in the BF Register, the original SHLAA site (ref 2554) is split to reflect brownfield and greenfield elements - total area of 0.43ha. A number of proposals for (re)development have been put forward over the years. This includes for the whole site and in part. Two parallel applications, for demolition of the redundant ambulance station and associated classrooms, refurbishment of the main building, and construction of a new office block, were refused in 2012 (12/00327/CON, 12/00355/FUL). A revised proposal was then permitted in 2013 (12/03311/CON, 12/03310/FUL). This proposal relates to the northern part of the site. Another application for building of a single dwelling on land to the rear was later permitted in 2016 (15/03735/FUL). This is for the southern part of the site. Following recent reappraisal, it is no longer considered that any further potential for residential development now remains. No longer considered developable/developable and future housing delivery is discounted in the SHLAA.