Proposal set to revamp brutalist car park into new neighbourhood

Plans to transform a 1960s car park into a neighbourhood have been submitted to Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council.

Social impact developers Capital&Centric aim to redevelop the Midway car park into 114 apartments, comprising 77 one-bedroom and 37 two-bedroom units, along with community spaces, 68 bicycle storage spaces and 67 parking spaces.

The development will also include a social hub with amenities such as a gym, mini-cinema, and lounge.

Capital&Centric says it wants to give brutalist concrete structures in prime town centre spots a new lease of life whilst saving embodied carbon within them.

The proposed neighbourhood is the first of three sites being brought forward with the council to re-boot key town centre spaces, a project which has attracted more than £35m of investment from the Government’s Future High Street Fund and Town Deal Fund, thanks to authority-led bids.

John Moffat, joint managing director at Capital&Centric, said: “The challenge of building on brownfield land is you need to be bold and creative in your approach. Our radical plans for Midway are exactly that and will bring forward much-needed homes in a prime town centre spot.

“People thought we were mad when we said we wanted to create new homes from a car park but the plans show that it can work and it’s actually made for a more interesting and unique neighbourhood.”

Councillor Simon Tagg, leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said: “The ageing and outdated Midway will soon be redundant with the opening of Castle car park and this exciting proposal avoids wasteful demolition and allows new housing to spring up on a prominent town centre brownfield site.

“Castle car park will provide a clean, safe car park for the whole town centre. Along with the regeneration of the Ryecroft and York Place with homes, shops and open space, we are beginning to see the visible signs of our multi-million-pound regeneration.”