Local views feed in to cinema scheme
Aug 23 2007 by Sam Wood, The Journal
DEVELOPERS who want to transform the old West Jesmond Picture House into environmentally friendly shop and office space have said they will alter their plans following public consultation.
The cinema on Lyndhurst Avenue, opposite the West Jesmond Metro Station, closed in 1993.
Investor Sunil Mehra of MK Partnership, which owns the land, said they will take comments made by the public at two meetings in early August into account when finalising plans, which have yet to be submitted to the council.
Of 57 comment forms filled in following the meetings, only two said they completely objected to the plans to create ground floor shops and three floors of offices.
The majority approved of the plans but some wanted to see changes to the scheme.
Many of the comments focused on the lack of parking and the height of the proposed offices, which will be slightly taller than the cinema is at present.
Mr Mehra, who went to school in the Jesmond area, said: “The building is in a very bad state as there was never any funding to maintain it. Nobody has ever made a concrete proposal that can be delivered and so never held a consultation to gain feedback. We are the first.
“There were some interesting comments made during the consultation, which we think we can work on to make the building more acceptable to the people of Jesmond.
“We don’t want to upset anybody, so we are looking at ways we can make the building blend in more with its environment.
“We are taking steps to ensure disruption to the community is kept at a minimum, both during construction and when the building is in use.
“We want this building to be something that people are proud to work in and that people are proud to have in their area.
“Unfortunately, given the area, there is little we can do about the parking.
“We have looked at lots of schemes, including underground or robotic parking and they are just not feasible for the development. But we will implement a parking management strategy.”
The scheme will include 410 square metres of shop space and 1,110 square metres of office space.
The building has been designed with the environment in mind. There will be tanks to collect rainwater for use in the toilets.
The windows will be designed to minimise the need for air conditioning. Cycle parking and showers will be included.
The outside will be finished in limestone and the top floor office space will be slate coloured to fit in with the surrounding residential area.
The interior of the building is in a very rundown state and most of the period features of the early 1900’s building have decayed.
MK Partnerships hopes to start work on the site sometime next year.
