Apartments plan for old heliport site
PLANS for 450 apartments on the site of the Newcastle Heliport are to be submitted – almost five years after housing plans were rejected over concerns about a rare butterfly population.
Proposals have been revealed for the construction of around 450 dwellings, with buildings ranging from between four and eight storeys.
Part of the Skinnerburn Road site, which is in the Forth Yards area to the west of the city centre, was the subject of an application for 280 homes in 2016.
But the proposal was rejected amid concerns about the future of an endangered butterfly.
Councillors were told much of the site overlooking the Tyne gorge is rough grassland providing a much needed habitat for the dingy skipper, which has a wingspan of just 3cm and is a priority species in terms of conservation.
The future of the site was left unclear, but now an application for ‘screening opinion’ has been lodged with Newcastle City Council planners.
MB European has lodged the request ahead of a full planning application for 450 apartments in blocks, “ranging from eight storeys to the north of the site to four storeys along the southern boundary”.
The application says, “The site is currently occupied by Newcastle City Heliport and associated buildings.
“The land is formed by two plateaus. The upper plateau contains a tarmac area in the north east corner of the site. The remainder of the site (lower plateau) is made up of grassland and scrubland.
“The site is set within an area predominantly characterised as existing industrial and cleared industrial sites located at the city centre’s western edge.”
It adds: “The previous issues raised in relation to biodiversity and the loss of habitat along the southern boundary can be readily addressed as part of the outline planning application and do not give rise to significant environmental effects.
“A buffer along the escarpment edge at the south of the site will be incorporated into the scheme.
“In this regard, the Inspector in his appeal decision in 2016 confirmed, ‘One relatively simple and logical solution [...] would be to set development back from the top of the escarpment to maintain an area of species-rich grassland.’”
They also said that issues of background noise were “significantly reduced” by the Quayside West development, which involves proposals to move the gas governor “which is the predominant noise source affecting the application site”.
The site is near the planned £250m Quayside West development, which was green lit by councillors last November.
It will see Yorkshire-based developer Newby build 1,100 homes in a series of blocks up to 12 storeys tall, a 135-bed hotel, and shops on the massive patch of wasteland next to the Utilita Arena that has lain vacant for two decades.