Angst over water tower's future as auction looms

2 hours ago

Evie LakeNorth East and Cumbria

Broomhill Water Tower was last sold at auction in 2013 but remains undeveloped

Savills The water tower which is a round, concrete structure towering above the treeline and some wooden sheds. It has a central column down the centre with windows and about seven slimmer legs around it. It has a large, round top which is windowless. The sky above is blue and cloudless. — Broomhill Water Tower was last sold at auction in 2013 but remains undeveloped

The buyer of a divisive water tower would need to engage the local community, a councillor has warned.

Labour's Scott Dickinson said the Broomhill Water Tower, near Amble in Northumberland, was "effectively" in his garden and had always split opinion, with past campaigns to try to demolish the brutalist structure vying with appreciation groups.

Built in the 1950s, and left redundant since 1961 when the local colliery closed, the tower was sold at auction in 2013 but remained undeveloped.

Now up for auction again on 9 June, Dickinson said any new owner would have to ease villagers' concerns around privacy and the impact of any redevelopment.

Dickinson said the water tower was "a bit of a landmark for the local area" and despite the split opinion, it had always served as a marker for home for so many people.

The local school even has the water tower as its logo.

"There's really 50 50 views on love, hate, demolish, keep, design, nervousness about redesign," he said.

"So there's a real angst about what is the future of the tower."

Scott Dickinson said there was not access to the water tower

Savills An aerial photo of the water tower which is surrounded by fields and gardens and shows no road leading up to it. There are horses grazing in the field behind it on the right and a settlement of houses behind it on the left. — Scott Dickinson said there was not access to the water tower

Savills, who are auctioning the tower with a guide price of £55,000, said such structures had "historically generated strong demand" from buyers.

Associate director of commercial auctions George Goucher said: "We anticipate this lot will appeal to a wide range of buyers, from experienced developers to ambitious end users seeking to deliver a Grand Designs-style project and breathe new life into a striking and unconventional building."

But Dickinson said any new owner would have to keep locals updated on any developments to put them at ease.

Villagers never found out the identity of the previous owner or saw anyone on the site, which Dickinson said he did not want to happen again.

"When it was sold at auction last time for £15,000, it created a lot of anxiety in the village because nobody knew what anybody was going to do with it," he said

"And partly that's down to the fact that it towers over everybody.

"So whatever anybody does with it, if you are in there, let's say it was redesigned into a Grand Designs house or something like that, you'd be looking down on the village and it's a very quiet village, it's rural."

There are logistical issues for any new owner too, Dickinson said, including weather-worn tower legs and poor accessibility to the site.

But the local councillor said he was optimistic about any potential development.

"Anybody that buys it, I would urge them to be open about their intentions from the start, because if it's something everybody can get behind, then villagers and everyone that lives locally would do that."

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