Newcastle General Hospital Ongoing Redevelopment (including new Tesco) | Newcastle | Various | U/C

[johnnypd]

Tesco and other Redevelopment at Newcastle General Hospital

Architect's Blurb:

The proposed new 60,000 sq ft Tesco store is just part of an exciting scheme to redevelop the whole of the Newcastle General Hospital site. The overall proposal is for a large mixed use development consisting of the store, a university research campus focusing specifically on health and ageing, along with associated community healthcare facilities.

A key design issue is the integration of the retail, university and healthcare elements to create a single comprehensive development. This will be achieved in part by the creation of a pedestrian route running north-south through the site linking all the proposed facilities. The south end will be enclosed with a glazed roof, while the north will open out into a wide, landscaped linear park terminating in a 'village square'.

Images:





Latest News:

Proposals for a giant superstore on the Newcastle General Hospital site are back on the agenda – and it could be even bigger than before.

Following the refusal of the original application in February, Tesco, Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle University, are working with Newcastle Council to submit a new application for the site. The council have said that nothing has been submitted yet but that pre-application discussions are likely to happen later this month.

Following the independent inspection of the Benwell Scotswood Area Action Plan, the upper limit for the size of a store on the site has been removed so the store could be much larger than previously submitted. (See previous news item: Inspector removes size restriction for store.)

Campaign members are disappointed that no attempts have been made by the development partners to consult with the local community and develop a proposal that builds on the strengths of the area rather than destroying it by building an enormous Tesco superstore. Instead the chief executive of the Hospital Trust has been threatening dereliction if the plans are not to go ahead. Len Fenwick is quoted in the Journal as saying: “Given the constraints on public spending our partnership with Tesco is exciting. The alternative is extensive dereliction of the site.¨ What a choice local residents are offered: superstore or dereliction!

It is also interesting to note that the council is using the lack of shopping outlets in Scotswood as an excuse for retail provision in Fenham. Councillor Bill Shepherd, the city council’s executive member for regeneration, is quoted in the Chronicle as saying: “I’m passionate that Scotswood needs to have good retail provision and we’re continuing to talk to a number of different supermarkets.” However, he didn’t go on to explain how a supermarket on the General Hospital site would help the people of Scotswood, who surely need shops much closer to where they live.

The campaign has been quite quiet for a while but it is now time to build on our previous successes and ensure that this disastrous proposal is stopped. Please get in touch if you would like to be more involved with the campaign.

http://stopfenhamtesco.wordpress.com...-be-submitted/

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[Geordie Ahmed]

Tesco/General Hospital

Im still undecided on this development - I live a stone's throw away from there so the lazy person inside of me would welcome a Tesco store (save me from going to Kingston Park) BUT i am concerned about the impact on the local community (talking more about noise, pollution etc)

Also there is no mention of it BUT i take it this means the A+E/Walk In Centre will be removed? That would be terrible as that is a brilliant and convenient facility

[johnnypd]

i hatethe tesco plan as they are knocking down the historic workhouse building (dating from 1839 iirc) and want to replace it with something that looks like shields road morrisons. the building in question:




it is ridiculous, looking at the aerial, how the low-rise store stands out against the tightly knit urban fabric of the area. if they want to build they have to find an urban response to the site, it is simply unacceptable, imo, to build a suburban identikit piece of trash where they are proposing it.

i'm not against Tesco by default, only what they have proposed. also, i think it shouldn't be a massive store as they suck the life from high streets whereas more modest sized supermarkets are more likely to complement their surroundings.

[Irish Blood English Heart]

That Tescos development really is a disgrace. I can't think of a worse location in the whole West End than here. It'll be traffic chaos as well as destroying the urban fabric of this part of the city.

If Tesco really want to build a giant store in the West End it should be linked to the regeneration of Benwell/Scotswood.

[johnnypd]

^agreed. It should be somewhere near the western bypass. it makes no sense at all to build a kind of exurban hypermarket in this area, the roads are narrow, the urban grain is tight and compac. it just doesnt fit AT ALL.

[edwardsr]

I agree Johnny. Those stone buildings are important relics of the Victorian age. Enough in the west end has been demolished and these structures (IMO) are very high quality and eminently useable. They should remain and be part of the new development not torn down to make way for TESCO's car park. I am amazed they are not listed; unless they once where, and a fast one has been pulled by the developers (akin to the Odeon). Have you considered writing to the council?

[johnnypd]

Originally Posted by Andrew

I'd certainly consider the possibility of living in one of the refurbished blocks. The duplex flats look really nice and the views from the higher floors will be incredible.

As for Tesco on West Road... if I see another planning application for that which isn't a substantial improvement (and by that I mean a proper mixture of uses, a good design, a smaller supermarket - I know not likely - and retention of the old building on the corner with Brighton Grove), then I am going to lend all the support I can to the inevitable local campaign to stop it being built.

unfortunately it seems that a new proposed store could be even bigger than the previous proposal. an independent inspection of the benwell-scotswood action plan removed the upper limit for the size of a potential store.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by johnnypd

unfortunately it seems that a new proposed store could be even bigger than the previous proposal. an independent inspection of the benwell-scotswood action plan removed the upper limit for the size of a potential store.

Yeah, I heard that as well. All the more reason to fight it even harder.

[Newcastle Historian]

Plans to build a Campus for Ageing and Vitality
at the Newcastle General Hospital Site.
April 22nd 2010 by Amy Hunt, The Journal


PLANS for a health campus which hospital chiefs say could bring investment and jobs to Tyneside are to be resurrected after previous proposals were turned down.

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University want to create a groundbreaking Campus for Ageing and Vitality
at the site of the current General Hospital, in the West End of Newcastle, which they say would create 1,000 jobs.

But the proposals were thrown out by planners last year after 600 letters of objection were sent in to Newcastle City Council.

Many local people were concerned about a 24-hour Tesco store included in the proposed development, which planning officers also felt could have a negative effect on the community.

Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-e...1634-26292406/

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[bigchrisfgb]

Plans that could bring up to 1,000 jobs and a world-class health facility are today revealed.

A new application for a combined health campus and supermarket in Newcastle’s West End have been submitted to city chiefs – after more than 600 people objected to a previous version of the scheme.

The proposals for a Tesco store on the Newcastle General Hospital site were binned by city council planners in February 2009.

Fears have been raised that building a large Tesco would put small shop owners out of business in the West End and rip apart the community.

Chief executive of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sir Leonard Fenwick, says the scheme is vital to cement the city’s status as a world-leader for research and treatment and redevelop the soon-to-be-vacant site.

The hospital trust, along with Newcastle University, wants to create a £100m groundbreaking Campus for Ageing and Vitality at the site, alongside the Tesco store.

They say the development, which would include a walk-in health centre and labs for staff to conduct research into areas including nutrition, conditions associated with age, such as dementia, and diabetes and technology, which could make the lives of older people easier, would bring up to 1,000 jobs to Newcastle’s West End.

Sir Leonard said: “This is a set of proposals that are very much about making a positive and realistic contribution to the well-being and regeneration of the West End of Newcastle. The theme of ageing and vitality involves us all no matter what the walk of life.”

When the plans were binned last year over a catalogue of concerns from planning officers, including the size of the store, it was understood hospital and university partners stood to lose £30m investment from Tesco as a result.

The partners say they have now cut the size of the proposed Tesco store in half, stripped a proposed petrol station from the application and added more landscaping in response to a consultation with residents.

Some local people say the negative effects of having a Tesco store in the area could destroy the area.

Rimpy Rehan, 32, a shop owner in the West End, said: “This will affect all the small shops which at the moment are just surviving, and will create a lot of extra traffic on Westgate Road.

“They say there will be new jobs but how many jobs will Tesco destroy?”

Student Abdel Ghani, 22, said: “I don’t agree with them knocking down the hospital as it is good for the community. There are thousands of Tesco stores, do we really need another as it will have an effect on the shops already here.”

Shopkeeper Mohammed Ajmal, 60, said: “I don’t mind the competition but the shopkeepers are very concerned about this.

“You can’t stop them as they are a big company and are going to do what they want. There will be job losses as local businesses will have to cut back to survive.”

Basava Raju Gandla, 25, a student, said: “It’s a good idea for the customers as the area could do with a big store. But its important that the jobs are created here as we need them.”

The General Hospital site is due to be redeveloped as part of a scheme to transfer services from the General to the city’s RVI and Freeman hospitals.

Health chiefs admit cash from Tesco would partly pay for the redevelopment of the Hospital site and would allow the plans to go ahead without money from Government.

Opponents of the original application, which was first submitted in 2007, included campaign group Stop Fenham Tesco. The application received nine letters of support.

Link: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north...2703-26772690/

[Newcastle Historian]

Tesco store bid back on despite objections
July 2nd 2010, by Amy Hunt and John Hill, Evening Chronicle



PLANS that could bring up to 1,000 jobs and a world-class health facility are today revealed.

A new application for a combined health campus and supermarket in Newcastle’s West End have been submitted to city chiefs – after more than 600 people objected to a previous version of the scheme.

The proposals for a Tesco store on the Newcastle General Hospital site were binned by city council planners in February 2009.

Fears have been raised that building a large Tesco would put small shop owners out of business in the West End and rip apart the community.

Chief executive of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sir Leonard Fenwick, says the scheme is vital to cement the city’s status as a world-leader for research and treatment and redevelop the soon-to-be-vacant site.

The hospital trust, along with Newcastle University, wants to create a £100m groundbreaking Campus for Ageing and Vitality at the site, alongside the Tesco store.

They say the development, which would include a walk-in health centre and labs for staff to conduct research into areas including nutrition, conditions associated with age, such as dementia, and diabetes and technology, which could make the lives of older people easier, would bring up to 1,000 jobs to Newcastle’s West End.

The General Hospital site is due to be redeveloped as part of a scheme to transfer services from the General to the city’s RVI and Freeman hospitals.

Health chiefs admit cash from Tesco would partly pay for the redevelopment of the Hospital site and would allow the plans to go ahead without money from Government.


FULL (TWO PAGE) ARTICLE HERE - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north...2703-26772690/

[NewcastleStu]

I find it amazing that they want another huge store in the region. There's the massive one at Kingston Park, which is hardly miles away (and you'd probably be travelling to such a place by car for a big shop), and then another massive one in Durham as well, together with the myriad smaller ones of all sizes in the area.

[AngerOfTheNorth]

With Tesco, they'll want more stores as long as there's people living more than a mile or so from their nearest store. You can't blame them, they're a business, but you can regulate against them being able to roll out everywhere.

[bigchrisfgb]

Forgive me for asking a stupid question here, but will the General Hospital still be there in some sort of form when the Tesco's is built?, and will the original parts of the hospital still stand?

[Newcastle Historian]

Originally Posted by bigchrisfgb

Forgive me for asking a stupid question here, but will the General Hospital still be there in some sort of form when the Tesco's is built?, and will the original parts of the hospital still stand?

The plan for the big three Newcastle Hospitals is quite complex in its detail, but at a basic level it is quite simple.

The General Hospital is to lose all of its acute hospital services and concentrate on specialist services and research. The acute hospital services will merge with all other such services in Newcastle, at the RVI and the Freeman.

The new building works for the General Hospital site, are to be partly funded by the sale of land to Tesco, though a fair few of the current buildings will remain, alongside the new builds (as at the RVI and the Freeman).

See plan of site, below. This is the latest plan that I have seen, so hope it is still extant . . .




If you have a look at Post 1 of this thread, it is explained in more detail there.

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[Andrew]

Planning application for the general hospital site is available to view online. I have nothing against the medical research campus, but my first impressions of the tesco store and the absolutely ridiculous amount of parking are not positive. I am also very disappointed that they're still proposing to knock down the historic building on the corner of Westgate Road and Brighton Grove - this I will oppose as strongly as possible.

For the documents follow this link:
http://planningapplications.newcastl...=L4TVBLBS09700

I'd urge everyone to make the most of their democratic right to make their opinions known about this.

[anonymous1]

Reading the comments, people seem to think that it is just a Tesco being planned. Very few mention the benefits of the improved healthcare and research facilities. Which is a shame considering a lot of those people will be people who complain about the NHS being bad.

[Andrew]

I agree, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that this development will bring some excellent new medical research facilities to the city. The thing is that this is not the contentious part of the application - the tesco superstore, the high levels of parking and the demolition of a significant historic building are.

[AngerOfTheNorth]

Maybe so, but I'm getting sick of the likes of Tesco using new facilities as a blackmail/bribe - "Let us have a new store (and therefore kill of numerous local businesses) or the cancer care unit gets it!"

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by AngerOfTheNorth

Maybe so, but I'm getting sick of the likes of Tesco using new facilities as a blackmail/bribe - "Let us have a new store (and therefore kill of numerous local businesses) or the cancer care unit gets it!"

I agree completely