£60m tower block gets go-ahead
SKYSCRAPER IS GIVEN THE NOD DESPITE OBJECTIONS
A £60 million skyscraper will be built on the Gateshead Quayside – despite concerns from some councillors over its “appalling” design.
Developers were given the green light by Gateshead Council’s planning committee yesterday to press ahead with proposals for a 20-storey housing block comprising 317 flats on the corner of Mill Road and Hawks Road.
However, councillors were split on the merits of the project, which some feared could become a “white elephant.”
Local authority planning officers had expressed support for the scheme, having accepted developer Elliot Group’s claims the profits from the project will be too small for it to make the usually required payment towards affordable housing in the borough.
Coun Lynne Caffrey said: “This is a major development, 317 units, and we are being told the developer’s profits on it are so small it is not viable to make a contribution to affordable housing in Gateshead. I find that quite unbelievable.”
She added: “I think the design is appalling. If we are a council whch is interested in iconic buildings, this is not one of them.” Council officers said the fact the developer is facing high upfront costs and is taking a risk on the tower block justified the view an affordable housing contribution would render it unviable.
They added the design had been carefully considered and improved by their requests to use more glass on the upper floors of the building, which is 20 storeys at its highest point and drops down to 15 and then nine floors. Coun Chris McHugh said: “One of the good things about the Gateshead skyline is we don’t have those monstrous tall buildings.
“There are other features on the Quayside which are visual features is it going to tower over them like a bit of a monolith?”
Coun Ian Patterson added: “If this is approved and the market for which it has been aimed at does nt bite, there could be a very large empty building on a prominent site above the Quayside.
“It could be a white elephant, which would not help the Quayside in the long term.”
Coun Patterson was the only committee member to vote against the plans, with 10 in favour and seven abstaining.
Construction is expected to start
next spring on the building, the first major residential scheme to be built on the Gateshead Quayside since the financial crash of 2008.
Elliot Group founder Elliot Lawless said: “We are delighted to make our debut on Tyneside.
“It is a thriving market with a great cultural scene and to be next to both the Baltic and Sage puts us right in the thick of things.
“The views across to the Quayside and the city centre are wonderful.
“Newcastle’s hilly topography makes for a really interesting city scape and our residents are going to enjoy identifying landmarks and buildings they know.”
The tower block is a redesigned version of a previously-approved building scheme which would have incorporated 366 flats - 244 for students.