Upmarket homes win approval

GO-AHEAD FOR NEW ESTATE

A NEW housing estate will be built in Sunniside village, after getting the thumbs up from council bosses.

Gateshead Council’s planning committee approved Avant Homes’ designs for an 89-home development on land west of Pennyfine Road on Wednesday evening, praising it as the kind of “aspirational housing” needed in the borough.

The proposals had attracted 23 objections from nearby residents, who feared a substantial increase in traffic around the village and the loss of a large amount green space.

However, the plans were approved unanimously at the civic centre hearing.

Coun John McClurey said: “We do have to build more homes and this is one site that lends itself to development.”

He added: “I think it is the sort of housing we need in Gateshead. I have often said we need aspirational housing to encourage people with money to come and live in Gateshead.”

Liberal Democrat colleague Coun Ian Patterson raised concerns over the protection of the historic Tanfield Railway path, which runs adjacent to the site, but said he was satisfied by the plans.

Labour councillor Mick Henry added: “In this case I think this is a really good potential development for people to take their families to live in, close to the environment including the Tanfield Railway.

“In almost every respect I think this would be an improvement, as well as providing us with some more housing.”

The new homes will range from two-bedroom to five-bedroom, and 15 per cent will be affordable housing.

One objector said they feared that “amenities in Sunniside village are already overstretched and the GP and local schools would not be able to cope”.

However, the council’s planning officers had indicated their support for the scheme, concluding that the design was “sympathetic to the site constraints and character of the area”.

The applicant also said the new estate, which is expected to take three and a half years to build, will generate £48.2m for the Gateshead economy.