144 homes to be built on site of old colliery

A RAFT of conditions will be placed on a scheme for 144 houses on former colliery site after councillors voted in favour of them on Wednesday.

Persimmon Homes won its longrunning battle to regenerate the Wardley Colliery site in Gateshead when the authority’s planning committee voted to approve the plans in December.

The committee defied the council’s own planning officers who recommended the scheme be rejected.

At the time, planners claimed that allowing the development to go ahead could set a precedent for greenbelt development elsewhere.

But councillors disagreed saying that it was a good opportunity to get the former industrial site cleaned up.

The majority of the site is occupied by the former JW Coats and Sons salvage yard, owned by Bill Coats, and Persimmon said that the fact that it is previouslydeveloped land means it should be an acceptable location for a housing estate.

Planning officers returned to the committee with a list of conditions they think should be imposed on the developer.

Gateshead Council’s planning committee voted in these conditions would form a section 106 (S106) agreement – legal agreements between local authorities and developers linked to planning permissions.

This means new residents will be issued with a ‘welcome pack’ containing two £50 preloaded POP cards per house.

Five percent of the development will be affordable housing and Persimmon will have to make a commitment to employ local workers. The developer will also have to pay £30,000 for ecological management of the proposed Wardley Manor Country Park, and £1,500 towards archaeological work.

Council bosses should also be authorised to sign off the agreement and add, delete, vary and amend the planning conditions as necessary say planners.