Bishop Auckland MP Shows Support for Regeneration of Historic Town Centre
Historic England and Durham County Council have been showing Dehenna Davison MP how they are working together to breathe new life into Bishop Auckland’s town centre.
Representatives from Historic England and the Council accompanied the Bishop Auckland MP around the town’s Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) where the two organisations have already invested £1.6 million to reinvigorate the historic area, with more funding planned.
Established in 2017, Bishop Auckland Heritage Action Zone is a five-year programme, which is revitalising neglected historic buildings, and working to bring them back into use for the local community and visitors.
During her visit Ms Davison saw several completed projects, including the restoration of the Grade I listed West Mural Tower at Auckland Castle and the conversion of 10 Newgate Street to an orthodontics clinic. She also heard about the successful annual heritage and history festival, which has engaged thousands of people since it began in 2018.
Ms Davison then visited several projects that were currently in progress. This included the transformation of Grade II listed 25 Newgate Street (a former shoe shop) into a new business and community hub for Bishop Auckland College, which is being partly funded by a £130k grant from the Heritage Action Zone. She also visited 47 Newgate Street (originally a furniture emporium but best remembered as Burtons and Dorothy Perkins) which is being converted into apartments.
We are truly blessed to have benefitted from the Heritage Action Zone, whose funding has restored life and value to key areas around Bishop. From West Mural Tower to Newgate Street, residents are being able to reconnect with sites of immense historic importance through modern uses for these buildings. I was particularly pleased to see the age-old McIntyre’s shop being done up as it is one of my favourite buildings in Bishop! It was a pleasure to take a tour-de-force of the Zone last week with stakeholders, and I want to thank Historic England and Durham County Council for their continuous work.
