A NEW bid to convert the disused former police station and courtroom complex at Bellingham into a veterinary surgery has been launched.

The original application was withdrawn in June for a detailed ecological survey to identify any threat to wildlife and plant life.

That has now been completed, and the proposal, from Orchard House vets, which runs surgeries in Hexham and Stocksfield, is back on the table.

It is hoped the new surgery could be taking its first patients by spring next year.

Orchard House wants to develop the abandoned police station as a veterinary surgery for small animals, with a consulting room, operating theatre and pharmacy, as well as a small car park.

The application includes provision for dog kennels and a cattery, but no animals will be kept on the site overnight.

There will be a full-time vet and a receptionist at the surgery from Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 6pm, and a veterinary nurse on duty three days a week.

The application also involves the conversion of the former court room, last used by Bellingham youth club, into a three bedroom house.

Photovoltaic panels would be fixed to the south-facing roof slope of the former police station. Two designated customer parking spaces are proposed at the front of the new surgery, with five staff parking spaces to the south.

It is anticipated there will be a daily pharmaceutical delivery, and clinical waste will be collected once a week.

In their application, the vets say: “The proposals provide an excellent opportunity for an appropriate re-use of a redundant building in the village.

“The proposed veterinary surgery will provide a valuable service to the village, and the necessary re-modelling of the building provides an opportunity to remove poorly-constructed over-build at the rear of the property and replace it with a new, high-quality construction and a small extension.

“The introduction of a residential property will be a valuable addition to the village.”

However, there has been some opposition to the proposals, on the grounds that the long-standing car parking problem in Bellingham would be exacerbated to an unacceptable level if consent was granted.

It was also claimed that the proposed house would be inappropriate for a primarily commercial area of the village.