Berwick charity to withdraw from youth housing project as site will be put on the market

The trustees have, “with regret”, made the decision to dispose of a site that used to be a community centre having come to the conclusion that the development is now beyond their means.

According to the charity, updated estimates following the granting of planning permission put the cost of the project at more than £1.6million – having doubled since 2020.

It received planning permission last year to create nine new flats for young people, as well as a new house and workshop block, on the site of the town’s former community centre and grammar school on Palace Street East.

Project manager John Bell said he recommended the move to the trustees of the charity, having spent the last eight years trying to negotiate a succession of difficulties.

He added: “We’ve had to accept, with regret, that this project was now beyond our means, having exhausted countless possibilities for capital funding.

“The plan to create affordable accommodation for local young people was perceived as expensive as a pure housing initiative and the building scores poorly as a heritage asset, despite being a grade two listed property.

“What has really cost us dearly are delays. It has been the story of the scheme.

“It took three years for Northumberland County Council to decide to give us the building and a further two years to actually transfer it, by which time it was a shadow of the functioning community centre we’d applied to take on in May 2015 – three months before it closed.

“Planning permission was a further two years and during this time, construction costs have soared.

“I really hope that decision-makers will look at our experience and try to implement some changes to the process, as we’re not an isolated case. We constantly hear of others who are going through similar challenges.”

The Edwin Thompson office in Berwick will market the site on behalf of the organisation.

Any proceeds from the sale will be applied to the on-going work of the charity, which will celebrate its 30th year in 2025.