Plan for Stack venue in Newcastle's Stephenson Quarter axed

Plans for a new shipping container leisure venue in Newcastle have been scrapped amid objections.

Bosses of Stack, formerly on Pilgrim Street, wanted to set up temporarily behind the city's Central Station.

However, owners of the adjacent Crowne Plaza hotel complained that noise could disrupt its guests' sleep.

The Danieli Group confirmed it would instead focus on a permanent site at Worswick Chambers on Pilgrim Street, which is being redeveloped.

The company that runs the Crowne Plaza told Newcastle City Council it was worried "loud music and noise" would cause a nuisance.

Further objections to the plans for the site in the Stephenson Quarter came from Royal Mail.

It said its delivery office on Forth Street could be affected by "crowds of pedestrians" causing "significant safety concerns" and delays by impeding drivers.

There were also fears schoolchildren at the nearby North East Futures University Technical College were at risk of having their learning disrupted, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The Tyne Coast Academy Trust, which runs the secondary school, said Stack's bosses had "ignored its potential next door neighbour being a school" and the proposal "fails to take into account the noise that will be emanated close to an educational establishment where young children are being taught".

Neill Winch, chief executive of Danieli Group, said withdrawing the scheme meant it could forge ahead with its plans for Worswick Chambers which received council backing in July.

The Grade-II listed building will become three storeys of bars, food outlets and other units set around a plaza. Opening is scheduled for winter 2023.

Mr Winch added: "We know how much people miss not having a Stack in Newcastle so we are concentrating our efforts on creating what will become a flagship site back where Stack first began."

Initially based further along Pilgrim Street, Stack was dismantled earlier this year to make way for the construction of HMRC's new £155m headquarters which will house about 9,000 civil servants.

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