Plans for a religious college sent to Council
PLANS have been submitted to Gateshead Council for a new religious college in Bensham.
Permission has been sought to establish a Talmudical College where 85-99 Woodbine Street once stood.
If approved the site will serve as a site of further Jewish learning for males of school-leaving age.
Documents submitted to the local authority state the plans include a study and prayer hall for 100 students, a lecture room, a dining room, accommodation for students, and a terraced home for the college principal.
The application’s design and access statement reads: “Historically, Gateshead has earned itself a worldwide reputation in the field since the first Talmudical College was founded in 1929.
This has in turn been a catalyst to establish similar colleges of study which have attracted both under- and post-graduate students
from across the globe to this town.
“It is the wish of the Applicant [Rabbi Edry] to form a new College to meet the increasing number of young people who wish to devote themselves to years of intensive study of their religion before taking their place in adult society.”
The application’s residential amenity statements state that students will be subject to strict behavioural codes, including the banning of smoking, alcohol, and narcotics.
Live music will also be prohibited and “partying at any time will not be tolerated”.
The application states: “As befits a College of Religious Study the students are expected to act at all times in a way that reflects the high ethical standards that are expected of them.”
The application goes onto say that while the plans will not “mimic” the design of the existing terraced housing the proposed college would be “sensitive” to the street.