Extra 900 homes for new estate

ANOTHER 900 homes are set to be built at a huge housing site in the west of Newcastle.

Council bosses gave their approval yesterday for the latest stage of the Callerton Park development to go ahead.

House builders were given the green light to begin building the first 500 homes at the site last week – two years after a 3,000-home masterplan for the area was adopted, despite being labelled a “disaster” for the green belt.

And, at a Newcastle City Council planning committee meeting yesterday morning, Bellway Homes won permission to start work on 198 homes at the Lower Callerton section of the site, west of North Walbottle Road and either side of the A69.

Outline approval was also granted for a further 702 houses, which will require a more detailed planning application to be agreed in the future.

This section of the Callerton development will also include a retail area and a new footbridge over the A69.

Callerton was removed from the green belt in 2015, in an effort to meet the city’s growing housing needs.

Coun Marion Williams told the planning committee that the damage to the green belt “had already been done” by opening the land up for development, so this latest housing plan had to be deemed acceptable.

The council’s cabinet member for employment, Coun Ged Bell, said: “Newcastle is very much a city that is on the up as more and more people want to live here. If we are to sustain that growth its critical we have the necessary housing that enables people to settle here and raise their families – this development at Lower Callerton will provide that.

“A range of extra benefits will also be provided as part of the application, such as £1m of road improvements, 15% of affordable housing, allotments and a subsidised bus service.

“These will all help create a new community that will be sustainable for generations and contribute to the region’s economy.”

There were 18 objections to the plans, including some from Save Newcastle Wildlife and the British Horse Society. Concerns were raised over the number of homes allocated for the 72-hectare patch of land increasing from the original 800, while some argued that there will be “no benefits to local communities”.

To help the surrounding area cope with the demands of a huge influx of new residents, the developer has agreed to give £3.7m to nearby primary schools, £1m to improve vital road junctions, £292,000 to local healthcare services, £886,500 to a new sports hub development at Bullocksteads, and £816,876 towards a subsidised bus service.

A range of extra benefits will also be provided as part of the application