A HUGE £120 million revamp is set to come to one of the UK’s most underrated cities as it kickstarts development for its newest regeneration project.
The Government has committed the boost in funding for the planned development near Newcastle’s city centre.
Ministers have confirmed the massive cash injection for the Quayside West development in Newcastle[/caption]
The project will transform the banks of the Tyne through the new £120 million funding package[/caption]
It is expected to see 1,100 homes built on the Quayside West development, as part of the city’s Forth Yards regeneration area.
What the development involves
The funding package of £121.8 million will be directed towards land remediation of on derelict and contaminated wasteland next to the Utilita Arena.
This includes groundworks on what was the site of Calders leadworks, and the building of essential infrastructure around the riverside plot.
Demolition and clearance works at the site will also be carried out with the funding, to provide improved access and attract private developers to come on board.
Timeline of the project
Leaders have cautioned these regeneration works could take 15 years to complete.
Quayside West has been seen as the last major undeveloped browfield site in Newcastle, with rengeneration for the area on the city’s agenda for years.
Newcastle City Council leader Karen Kilgour has said that this area of land is “complicated” but could become a “huge success” if expectations are realistic.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “What this money means is that we can start the remediation of the site, we can decontaminate it, we can put the infrastructure in, that means that building can start.
“This is the beginning of something huge, but we need to be honest – it is not going to be overnight.”
A £250 million proposal by developor Newby to build more than 1,000 homes was previously approved in 2020, as an “Ouseburn of the west” scheme.
However, these plans never came to fruition, and the land was later purchased by the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, Homes England.
Councillor Kilgour added: “We want to build resilient communities and part of that is about ensuring we have mixed tenure – so we have housing types we know the market wants but also that people can afford.
“That is absolutely fundamental to the council’s ask but also to the messages we are getting from Homes England and from the Government.”
North East mayor Kim McGuinness spoke at a Quayside West site on Tuesday morning about the “spectacular regeneration” of the area west of Central Station.
She said: “This derelict land is in a great location on the banks of the Tyne yet has stood mostly unused for 20 years, which is a huge waste of potential.”
The Mayor added: “We’ve secured funding so we can get the last brownfield site in Newcastle city centre ready to start building the homes that local people need.”
She hopes to turn it into a thriving community that can have good links to transport, green spaces and shops.
This is as access to social housing and affordable homes in the area has been limited for local people, which is what Mayor Guinness hopes to improve with the developments.
The broader plan for housing in the UK
The Labour government are also pushing to get 1.5 million new homes built by 2029 by prioritising the use of previously used land.
Housing and planning minister Matthew Pennycook said: “We are acting to make it easier to build homes on abandoned, disused and neglected urban brownfield sites across the country – boosting housing supply, regenerating communities, and delivering economic growth.”
Quayside West has been described as the last major undeveloped brownfield site in Newcastle[/caption]
A total of 2,500 homes could therefore built across the 50-acre site of Forth Yards[/caption]
For Newcastle, there is a procurement process set to start in coming months to find a private sector partner for the development.
Former chief executive of the council, and now chair of Homes England, Pat Ritchie said: “This significant investment in Forth Yards demonstrates the Agency’s commitment to transforming previously undeveloped brownfield sites into thriving communities.”
She added: “It is great that we can announce that we are putting real investment in now to get the site moving.
“It is the bit of the Quayside that still needs to be done. We know how brilliant and magnificent the Quayside is and this site is really crying out for that development and for a desirable place to live and work.”
They are working together with the Newcastle City Council, the North East Combined Authority and Network Rail to strategically manage what is to come for the site.
The new funding deal for Newcastle comes just weeks after the Forth Goods Yard, owned by Network Rail, was named one of four priority building sites for installation of homes on surplus railway land.
A new Government development company proposed adding 600 to this area, which comes on top of the building of more than 500 flats by Olympian Homes between the Redheugh and King Edward VII bridges.
A total of 2,500 homes could therefore built across the 50-acre site of Forth Yards.
The regeneration works in Quayside West could take around 15 years[/caption]