Plans to open a new bar on the corner of Newcastle’s Bigg Market have been dropped – for now.
The proposed Geordie Racer would have transformed the empty plot at the corner of the Bigg Market and Grainger Street, which was formerly home to a KFC and later VietCafe. But developers have been forced to put their vision for a radical transformation of the vacant unit on hold, after being met with stern opposition from city authorities.
The Geordie Racer, named in honour of Victorian world cycling champion George Waller, had been touted as a high-end establishment that would be a “flagship site for the redevelopment of the Bigg Market". However, Northumbria Police and council bosses were unimpressed by the plans to bring another drinking venue into one of the city’s most notoriously busy and troublesome areas.
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Meanwhile, the owners of apartments above the proposed bar warned that it would cause a "lifetime of misery" for its neighbours. After hearing the scale of the objections to the scheme at a Newcastle City Council licensing hearing on Tuesday, developers Dawson Enterprises Ltd announced that they would withdraw the plans in the hope of returning later with a revised proposal which Tyneside decision-makers could support.
Company director Elliot Towsey said: “We want to do this correctly. We are not in the business of trying to go outside policy or upset anyone or be a nuisance. Maybe we have slightly underestimated what we needed to do in preparation for this and we should perhaps go away and rectify all this and come back.”
Mr Towsey had earlier told city councillors that the 230-capacity venue would have a "relaxed and safe" atmosphere and offer an an "alternative kind of late night experience", as well as being open for breakfast and brunch. But the prospect of hundreds more drinkers descending on an area already “dominated” by other bars like Filthy’s, City Vaults, and Cosy Joes was a major concern for the police.
Sgt Julie Cottiss called the proposal "very vague and certainly not exceptional", adding that there "does not appear to be any appreciation" of the crime and disorder problems that can occur around the Bigg Market. Police solicitor Hayley Hebb accused the applicants of have come to the council hearing “half-dressed and half-ready" and presenting a "mish-mash of ideas".
Randhir Puri, whose company MarkBourn Limited owns 18 flats above the Grainger Street building, warned that the noise from the bar would cause "huge disruption" to people living there and result in a "lifetime of misery" for upstairs neighbours. Council licensing manager Jonathan Bryce said the Victorian-themed concept touted by the applicants was not reflected in the reality of the plans and that to approve the scheme would have been "wholly contradictory" to council policy, which does not allow new venues to open in the city centre 'special stress' area unless there are deemed to be exceptional circumstances.
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