£350m Gateshead housing regeneration scheme goes for planning
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Planning applications for the first phases of one of the most ambitious housing regeneration projects seen on Tyneside in decades have been submitted to Gateshead Council.
Plans for 472 new homes on sites in Saltwell & Bensham, Deckham and Birtley in Gateshead have been submitted by Gateshead Regeneration Partnership (GRP).
The proposals are part of a pioneering 2,400 home, £350m scheme that aims to transform housing provision across the borough and breathe new life into local communities.
GRP is an award-winning partnership comprising Gateshead Council, leading housing provider, Home Group and FTSE 250 homebuilding and construction group, Galliford Try. The collaboration is viewed as an innovative approach to addressing a chronic shortage of affordable housing, against a backdrop of a tough economy and limited available public funding.
The plans submitted by GRP include a detailed application for 103 homes to be built on a cleared site on Saltwell Road West in Bensham, along with outline proposals for an additional two nearby sites on Kelvin Grove and Hyde Park. If planning is approved, 295 rundown properties – the majority of which are vacant and dilapidated 'Tyneside flats' - will be demolished to make way for up to 261 new, high quality, three and four bedroom homes.
A hybrid planning application, including detailed plans for an initial 50 homes and outline proposals for 195 homes in total, has also been submitted for a development of three, four and five bedroom homes off Mount Pleasant Road in Birtley.
The final application to be considered is for 16 new two and three bedroom homes on Avon Street in Deckham – all of which would provide social housing, managed by Home Group.
The applications are the first stage of a grand-scale, innovative strategic plan to boost the housing market in Gateshead. The project – one of the largest regeneration schemes in the UK - will address the demand for a greater variety of house types across the borough and bring much needed jobs.
In total, 2,400 brand new, high-quality sustainable homes will be built across 19 sites over the next 15-20 years. Around 25% of the homes built will be affordable or social housing with the remainder being privately owned.
All land for the scheme is being supplied by Gateshead Council with financial investment to develop the land provided by Galliford Try and Home Group. The project is the only one of its kind to bring together public and private sector organisations on an equal, profit-sharing basis and on a scale not previously seen before.
One of the major benefits of the partnership is that low-value land - that would have been very unlikely to attract private development - will be regenerated. By bundling 19 sites of varying quality into one package, Gateshead Council has ensured that all of its available land is revitalised – not just its prime sites.
It has been almost 25 years since new, large-scale social housing developments were constructed in Gateshead - a situation mirrored in many other areas of the UK. An inadequate housing stock coupled with increased unemployment, rising private rents and difficulties in obtaining mortgages has resulted in 12,000 people waiting for social housing in Gateshead.
Local residents have helped shape the plans during extensive, pre-planning public consultation undertaken by GRP prior to the submission of the applications.
If approved by the council’s Planning and Development Committee, work on the new homes is expected to start in the summer.
This project has received significant funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to help with land assembly and site preparation works. GRP will continue to work with the HCA in the future to secure funding for social housing.
Cllr Mick Henry, leader of Gateshead Council, said: “This is a hugely significant milestone in housing regeneration here in Gateshead. We embarked upon this ambitious venture with an aspiration to bridge the gaps between the public and private sector housing industry, to work together to revitalise communities at their very heart, and to tackle the shortage of family and affordable housing.
“This is one of two huge regeneration schemes that will see literally hundreds of millions of pounds invested in the housing, retail and leisure infrastructure here in Gateshead, during extremely challenging financial times. These developments follow years of external investment in art, culture and leisure that has generated enough confidence in our local economy to attract such developers.”
Following submission of the planning applications, the Local Planning Authority will carry out the usual statutory formal consultation period.
A decision on the proposals is expected in summer 2013.
For more information visit www.gateshead.gov.uk