Jesmond Dene Banqueting Hall
This page attempts to sum up the current situation regarding the Banqueting Hall and to act as a vehicle for residents to suggest future uses for the Hall.
The Banqueting Hall on the edge of Jesmond Dene has been managed as a "controlled ruin" since the roof was removed in the 1970s. The Hall was originally part of the gift to the City by Lord Armstrong along with Jesmond Dene. For those interested, the original deed can be downloaded here (15Mb) or there is a typed version which can be downloaded here (68k).
The Hall and parts of the Dene have been held in a Trust for which the City Council was the only Trustee. Recently, the Council has consulted on changes to the Trust Deed such that the restrictions applied to the Hall were removed from the Hall and applied to the whole of Jesmond Dene. The exact wording in the Deed suggests that the Hall is used "for lectures, recitals, concerts, banquets and meetings (such lectures, recitals, concerts, banquets and meetings being connected with arts, literature, science or education) or for pursuits or other gatherings appropriate to a public park and the same shall be used for those purposes only". The exact wording of the consultation can be found here and the consultation responses can be found here. This work was prompted by the transfer of Jesmond Dene and the other parks in Newcastle to the new Newcastle Parks and Allotments Trust (NPAT) which is due to start work in earnest in April 2019 although they have been meeting as a shadow board for around 3 months.
The Hall has a number of artists in partial residence who are understood to have some form of lease (the exact details of the lease are unknown to the Association). They are currently refusing to be displaced and argue that the variation of the Trust Deed is unnecessary.
The Council put out a request for Expressions of Interest (EOI) in the Banqueting Hall and the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust (TWBPT) were adjudged to have produced the best EOI. Members of the committee attended an informative talk on the Banqueting Hall by Martin Hulse (Chair of the TWBPT) some three/four years ago where Martin outlined their plans for the Hall. Part of the refurbishment was the creation of two holiday rentals in the house attached to the Hall (the part of the Hall that can be easily seen from Jesmond Dene Road) to bring in revenue while the rest of the Hall was rebuilt. His ambitious plans also allowed for various lifts to allow access for disabled people. At that point, his projected costs for the refurbishment was £6m-£7m. Since that time, it is understood that dry rot has been discovered in the house, so the costs will increase. He also indicated that the estimated running costs for the refurbished building would be of the order of £60k-£100k per annum obviously offset marginally by the income from the rentals.
Volunteer groups in the various parks are very unhappy about the possibility that the NPAT will get back from TWBPT a building that will drain resources which could have been spent on the improvement of the overall parks estate.
Clearly there are many issues to be resolved before the work on the Banqueting Hall can even start let alone complete (an optimistic view of timescales suggest completion in 5 years is unlikely), but as the closest residents' association, we should have a view of what the Hall can be used for and the inconveniences we are prepared to allow. At the moment, it is clear that any sort of venue will increase pedestrian traffic through the estate and is likely to increase nuisance parking at the bottom of Glastonbury Grove and Lindisfarne Road.
What do you think? What would you like to see? The committee will continue to attend meetings covering the Banqueting Hall on behalf of the Association. Please let us have your views by emailing us at info.jdera.jdenw@gmail.com.