Hall told to start repairs

Mar 22 2008 by Paul James, The Journal

PLANNING chiefs have handed Sir John Hall a series of deadlines for patching up his historic Woolsington Hall site.

Officials in Newcastle have also warned the former Newcastle United chairman they will take legal steps to secure the property, near Newcastle Airport, if he does not comply with their timetable.

Sir John’s Cameron Hall Developments has recently filed a schedule of repairs with the city council and officers are determining what on that list will involve listed buildings and so need special consent.

Cameron Hall has indicated that all the work will be completed by the end of August, including patching up and repairing the roofs and elevations of the hall, the orangery and stable block.

The group wants to turn the estate into a boutique hotel and golf course, to be built and managed by the family, which has been welcomed at the civic centre. But the council has moved to formalise the timetable and told Cameron Hall to start work by the end of this month.

Head of planning and transportation Harvey Emms is pushing for applications for listed building consent to be filed by the end of April so the work can be completed by the end of August.

But if nothing has happened by the time the city’s development control committee meets on April 18, he will ask councillors to approve legal steps that would see the council do the work itself and bill Cameron Hall for all the costs.

The urgent works notices or building repair notices could ultimately lead to a compulsory purchase order, in which the council forced Sir John to sell it the estate. In a letter to Russell Jones, of Cameron Hall, Mr Emms said the estate’s historic buildings needed to be properly recorded, a conservation plan for the park should be prepared and the landscape and ecological aspects of the site would need to be fully surveyed.

He said: “Each of these areas require significant survey and assessment work to accurately establish the site conditions and inform your detailed proposals.

“In view of the importance and complexity of this site and the pressing need for repair and management work at the site, I am keen to work closely and quickly with you and your consultants to bring proposals forward to an application stage.”

Sir John has previously said he is looking forward to pressing ahead with the project. Nobody at Cameron Hall was available for comment yesterday.