Landowner facing calls to fill in ‘eyesore’ hole
PRESSURE is being put on a landowner to fill in a hole dug at a shopping centre eight months ago.
Coun Wayne Daley described the fenced off excavation at Brockwell Shopping Centre in Cramlington as an “eyesore”.
A representative for the company that owns the centre explained that the hole was dug as part of plans to build a new cafe on the site.
Planning permission was obtained for the development in 2020 but work has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite this, Coun Daley felt that the time the land had been dug up and left was unacceptable.
He said: “Since September there has been an almighty hole at the second biggest shopping area in Cramlington. I have been told constantly it is being sorted but it is exactly the same.
“All I want them to do is fill the hole in and remove the metal barriers. It is an absolute eyesore and leaving it like this is a slap in the face to residents. Many residents contact me asking what on earth is going on.
“At the moment what we’re left with is a great big hole. It’s an unacceptable amount of time.”
The site’s manager and former Cramlington town councillor Panos Papaioannou explained the situation from the point of view of the owner, Blair Estates.
He said: “Brockwell is the cleanest shopping centre in Cramlington. The other shopping centres in the town are nothing like the Brockwell, it’s nice and clean.
“The owner has planning permission to build an ice cream parlour on the square. Mining surveys are being carried out and to do a survey takes time.
“I don’t see anything wrong. There is going to be a unit there, we have planning permission. I have been trying for 20 years to get something for the young people of Cramlington.
We’re waiting for a company to do a mining survey – to fill the hole back in would cost a lot of money.”