Darlington City Council has presented the first stages of its plans to rebuild Grade II * Bank Top Station with a redevelopment of the site to the west of the 19th century building.
The scheme is part of large-scale plans to accommodate future rail travel demands and accommodate future use of HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail, and to create a modern rail hub for Tees Valley.
Along with the demolition of several properties on Pensbury Street, Victoria Road, Waverley Terrace and Park Lane, public landscaping and bus stops, the application seeks consent to flatten Hogan’s public house on Victoria Road.
The pub, formerly known as the Park Hotel, was built as a Temperance hotel around the time the station was built.
The iconic venue, featuring a series of arches supported by Doric columns, is considered a heritage asset due to its historical location and external appearance.
In planning documents examining the heritage status of the area there is no alternative to demolishing the pub if Pensbury and Park Roads are to be realigned, a key part of the plan.
However, they claim that Hogan’s has been “identified as being of considerable importance in the Darlington context.”
A council spokesperson said it was the building’s outer shell that contributed to the configuration of the listed station building. He said that internally the building was “greatly altered and of limited importance.”
He added: “The public benefits are that the demolition of Hogan’s will allow for a safer and improved modern road layout which in turn will allow for improved transportation interchange with bus connections to Darlington and beyond.
“The Hogans demolition will also allow for a larger space in front of the station to enhance the station environment through careful landscaping. This is considered an upgrade.”
The plans follow the authority, which is investing resources in renovating the township’s railway heritage buildings, approving a proposal to create a Sainsbury’s convenience store on the site of the Stockton and Darlington Railway pub Platform One on Middleton St George, which was also known like Fighting Cocks. .
Niall Hammond, president of Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, said that while the loss of the Fighting Cocks had not been to anyone’s advantage, the loss of Hogan would pay off the station’s heritage by improving its surroundings.
He said: “What they propose generally improves the Bank Top Station, giving it more room to breathe by creating the public space at the top of Victoria Road. Losing any historic building is a shame, but if there’s a good reason for it and it’s done right, then you can defend it. “
He said the only Bank Top Station-style building in the area in the 1880s, the old Northeastern Hotel, had already been well preserved.
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Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-17 10:12:16
