A PART retrospective planning application for the demolition of a former Carlisle newspaper office building has been lodged with Cumberland Council.

Work began at Newspaper House in Dalston Road on November 11 according to the form. The applicant, Dalston Road Properties, has included a construction phase plan as well as a health and safety plan as part of the application.

The application states that the building has an internal floorspace covering an area of 2,183 square metres.

Earlier this month Apex Engineering, the company overseeing the site and its demolition, said that asbestos removal has already taken place.

According to the construction phase plan, access will be through existing gates which, apart from site deliveries and collections, would be kept securely locked at all times.

Additional fencing will be installed along Dalston Road to restrict access to the work area.

No details are provided as to what is planned for the site once demolition is complete but the report states that it would be left as a flat level site which would be ready for redevelopment.

Earlier this month Cumberland Council confirmed that the ongoing demolition of the building would require planning permission to be granted retrospectively.

A council spokesman confirmed that the site owner doesn’t currently have planning permission for the works.

The building was once the home of CN Group and later Newsquest’s north and west Cumbrian titles. The site was sold at auction in June.

The new building owners applied to building control for a demolition notice which was approved at the end of August, and planning consent has previously been given for demolition of the Press Hall building.

Towards the end of 2021, the Press Hall, which was situated at the rear of Newspaper House, was demolished.

The iconic building, which used to house the printing press and despatch areas, saw millions of newspaper editions come off the presses until 2018.

The printing of publications was moved to Newsquest’s print centre in Cambuslang, Glasgow.

The News & Star and The Cumberland News editorial and commercial teams now operate out of the LocaliQ House on Newsquest's premises across the car park from Newspaper House.