'Bland' Newcastle bowling alley flat conversion rejected

The building opened in 1911 as the Brighton Electric Theatre

Plans to turn a 112-year-old former theatre and bowling alley into flats have been rejected.

Newcastle City Council refused the scheme proposed for the 1911-built former Brighton Electric Theatre and MFA Bowl on Westgate Road.

It was opposed by 12 residents and the local authority called the plan "bland and unimaginative".

Applicant Capital Properties Solution had said they would have "made use of a redundant, disused building".

They had wanted to demolish part of the building and create 68 bedrooms across seven apartments for use by students and professionals, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The local authority called Capital Properties Solutions' application "bland and unimaginative", while Northumbria Police had warned that it had "serious concerns" and was "uncomfortable with the scale of the development".

The council called the proposed design "bland and unimaginative"

One objector called the plan "cheap and soulless", adding the flats were an "absurd proposition for the amount of space available".

Another resident said the disused bowling alley was "one of the finest examples of art deco architecture in Newcastle and is often considered an important piece of history to many residents of the city".

The building had been converted into a cinema in 1947 and then became a 10-pin bowling alley in 1963.

MFA Bowl closed in 2018 before it was later relaunched as The Bowl - but the business suffered and entered liquidation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While the council said the principle of demolishing part of the building could be acceptable, city planners ruled that the developer's scheme "would not provide a high quality environment and a good standard of residential amenity for future occupants".

They wrote: "As noted, the existing building has architectural features which make it visually interesting and reflect the period in which the building was originally developed.

"It is very disappointing to see a proposal which removes this distinctive character and replaces it with a bland and unimaginative design."