Major steps are about to be taken towards the multi-million pound regeneration of Auckland Castle.
Four ground breaking schemes totalling more than £24m will be lodged with Durham County Council before Christmas.
If approved the multiple projects will see the Palace of the Prince Bishops, as well as the Market Place, undergo the most far reaching and visionary changes for 300 years, but herald the economic revival of the once prosperous town of Bishop Auckland.
The plans include:
– The £17m restoration of the castle, including the construction of a new museum wing telling the story of all religious faiths in Britain
– The creation of a £2.5m visitor welcome centre incorporating a 27 meter tower
– The £3m transformation of a former bank in Bishop Auckland Market Square, designed by the local Victorian architect George Hoskins, into a Spanish art gallery
– A £1.5m development to turn an adjacent derelict building into a study facility for post graduate students of the arts.
Together, the proposals total £24.25m and will create new jobs and investment into the area. Subject to planning approval, work will begin in 2015.
David Ronn, chief executive of the Auckland Castle Trust, the charitable group behind the developments, said while the Palace of the Prince Bishops of Durham had undergone many changes since it was first built, few had been as “far reaching and visionary as those set to take place in the 21st century.”
But it was intended the developments at both the castle and the north end of Bishop Auckland should act as a spur to revitalise the once highly prosperous town.
Since its inception, the Auckland Castle Trust’s vision has been to help to drive the social and economic regeneration of the town and the surrounding area for the benefit of the community.
Mr Ronn said, “Our aim in all this is to be a catalyst for the regeneration of Bishop Auckland and especially the historic and very fine Market Square at the northern end.
“By working closely with responsible organisations such as Durham County Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as the Town Team, the Civic Society of Bishop Auckland and a wide range of local people and businesses, we believe that the Market Square and surrounding streets will become once more places of fine and functional buildings, busy and active with people and trade, and a source of pride for those who care about it.”
The developments, which circle the Market Square, have been dubbed the ‘string of pearls’.
“If you set everything that we are intending to do alongside those places that we don’t own, such as Newgate Street, St Anne’s Church and the Town Hall, and you join them together, you can see the potential for the town and the important role that we have to play in its future,” Mr Ronn said.
Further planning submissions are expected to be made in the coming weeks for a £2.5m endeavour to drill for geothermal energy to heat the palace and other buildings, the castle’s derelict 300 year old walled garden and the Postchaise and Queen’s Head Hotels.
A planning application for the Eleven Arches site is also being prepared with a view to its being submitted either before of just after Christmas.
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
