Earlier this year we were granted planning permission from Northumberland County Council to redevelop the site of the disused Ebenezer Chapel building in West Wylam, into eight new affordable homes.
Due to it having sat empty for a number of years, there were multiple issues with the structure and condition of the chapel.
This, paired with the drastic rise in inflation and costs of building materials and labour, meant that converting it wasn’t a financially viable option for us to take forward.
However, with such high demand for affordable homes in the area, rather than leaving the site empty, we were granted permission to demolish the building and rebuild on the site.
At the beginning of this month, we purchased the land from the methodist church, and from Monday 10 November our development contractors NB Clark will be on site for demolition to begin. We will also be working closely with the Miners Lamp Cafe, which will be rehoming a number of items and artefacts from the chapel.
We expect the full demolition to take around six weeks to complete, and we aim to be finished by Christmas. There will be some noise disruption during this time, within NB Clark’s working hours of 8am-6pm, Monday-Friday, and 08:30am-12pm on Saturdays (Saturdays will be as and when necessary, as opposed to core working hours).
We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this will cause.
In early January, NB Clark will begin with the necessary groundworks for the construction of the new homes - eight one-bed apartments for over 55s, which will be available for affordable rent.
To commemorate the chapel, the design of the apartments has been inspired by its architecture and design. The same type of brick will be used and the roof tiles will be slate effect. Existing stonework will be reused on the entrance porches, along with red brick detailing used for arches over the windows and a banding at first floor level.
If you have any queries, please contact the Karbon Homes development team on construction.PM@karbonhomes.co.uk or NB Clark on 01670 512 468.
