SkyscraperCity Forum banner
350K views 1K replies 81 participants last post by  Ken O'Heed 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
This is the thread for all developments, issues, news and events in Newcastle's West End and Outer West area - places like Scotswood, Benwell, Fenham, Elswick, Denton, Throckley, Newburn, and so on.

Some ongoing developments:

Tesco Redevelopment of the 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/2009/09/03/new-application-for-hospital-site-to-be-submitted/

Fire Station Redevelopment:

City Council Summary
:

21/01/2009
For more information contact Nigel Whitefield on 0191 211 5097

The future of the former West Road Fire Station site is set to be agreed by the City Council on January 28.

The Council’s Executive is recommended to accept an offer for the 1.31 acre site from New Deal for Communities (Newcastle) Ltd and Groundwork South Tyneside & Newcastle to deliver a scheme for community benefit, following a 17-month marketing exercise.

The bold, imaginative scheme will be known as ‘The West Gate’ and will provide a community enterprise, training and leisure complex in an eco-friendly hi-tech premises with low carbon footprint which will be a focal point for the local community.

The scheme will feature work space for businesses and craft/retail workshops and provide activities for both young and old, including training in literacy, numeracy, job creation and enterprise development.

The premises will also provide a local venue for occasional markets, weddings and conferences.

The planning application will be determined by autumn 2009 with rebuilding work completed in July 2011 and the building is expected to open in August 2011.

The preferred developer was chosen from a shortlist of six applicants who provided detailed proposals and financial offers in September 2008.

The NDC/Groundwork bid was selected because it most closely matched community need and brought NDC/Groundwork’s local knowledge, networks and governance structures. Their proven track record in delivering similar schemes was also considered a major strength.

It also scored highly in community cohesion and social inclusion issues and demonstrated a wide range of services targeted at a broad cross-section of the community.

Images:

winning bid


One of the ones that missed out


Cruddas Park Reclads/Riverside Dene:

Developer Waffle
:

A place to belong

The business of remaking the most famous residential landmark on Tyneside begins with a vision.

It’s about being and belonging, with a sense of health, happiness and home.

This is Riverside Dene, the new name for Cruddas Park.

Block by block, acre by acre, a new way of living is taking shape on the north bank of the Tyne.

Revitalised apartments with elegant windows, communal gardens, bright interiors and spectacular views across the Tyne Valley, are just some of the reasons to consider this as home.

Here is a development with properties to let or to buy, offering the best of community life but right on the edge of the city centre.

During the glory days of Tyneside industry, this part of town was famous as a centre of shipbuilding, where mighty warships built at the Armstrong Works, not apartment blocks, touched the sky.

A new future is close at hand but the spirit of history is engrained in our vision and our values, our principles and our pedigree. It begins with a vision because the right kind of vision can soar.

Riverside Dene is rising, can you see it? :)lol:)

Images:




from Finton Dawson on Flickr


Scotswood Housing Expo:

Council Summary:

The Scotswood Expo will be the UK’s first Neighbourhood Exposition. It will comprise the first phase of a new neighbourhood that will form the centrepiece of a series of cultural programmes and festivals culminating in a major event in 2011.

Newcastle City Council is currently in the process of selecting a private sector partner to form the Scotswood Urban Regeneration Vehicle (URV). The URV will be a Public Private Partnership made up of the City Council, English Partnerships and Bridging NewcastleGateshead, together with a private sector development partner, which is currently being identified through a procurement process.

Images:






News on Participants:

The RIBA has named FAT as one of the six winners in the groundbreaking Scotswood Expo in Newcastle. The practice will be joined by fellow victors JM Architects, Proctor and Matthews Architects, S333 Architecture and Urbanism Ltd, Sarah Wiggleworth Architects, and Space Craft Architects.
Among the those that missed out were Sergison Bates, and Scandinavian firm White Arkitekter AB. The competition pitted a 12-strong shortlist of practices against each other to deliver 60 new homes in four terraces around a central park. The project will form the first phase of wider £400 million proposals to build nearly 2,000 homes on the site west of the city centre. More than 140 practices submitted entries to the contest, which is run by the RIBA's Competitions Office and has the backing of Newcastle City Council, Bridging NewcastleGateshead and English Partnerships. Jury member Wayne Hemingway said: 'The six winning practices are very fortunate. Being
able to deliver much needed new thinking in housing is an opportunity to bring real benefit to the Scotswood and wider communities. But the hard work starts now and the challenges in bringing designs to fruition will be
difficult but not insurmountable. I am looking forward to seeing the results'
 
See less See more
12
#2 ·
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
 
#4 · (Edited)
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.
 
#8 ·
So, went down Scotswood road earlier and cursed that i forgot to bring a camera as the scaffolding is pretty much off the first of the towers to be renovated and it looks really good. Any one going in that general area should take a pic - such a transformation.
 
#13 ·
I was driving past it in the rain today and at the lights (pulled over, engine off etc. if the police are reading this) I grabbed a quick photo to show the before and after...looks really good in my opinion - like the windows which stick out more and more as you go up the floors.



(ok its not the best shot but you get the idea!!).
Thanks for that mate! It really shows up how bad a state the towers got in when you see them alongside the refurbished one.
 
#14 ·
I've heard similar...I think its because the builder has realised that this many new flats (either to rent/sell) are not really sustainable in the "current market"...I would imagine they'd be happier demolishing a couple of the blocks and putting some houses in instead...!
 
#15 ·
They do look good indeed. I heard that a private developer had been given some council money to refurbish them and so two were done but that the other 6 weren't going to get done at the current time. They do look really good on the website mind.

Anyone got any experience of the current towers or area? Is it pretty rough, cause location wise it's not too bad for town/college/river views etc.

I can see them from my work at Saltwell Park too.
 
#17 ·
They do look good indeed. I heard that a private developer had been given some council money to refurbish them and so two were done but that the other 6 weren't going to get done at the current time. They do look really good on the website mind.

Anyone got any experience of the current towers or area? Is it pretty rough, cause location wise it's not too bad for town/college/river views etc.
I can see them from my work at Saltwell Park too.
To put it bluntly, rough as a badgers ar*e! My wife regularly has to visit for work purposes and has had car broken into several times along with many of her colleagues!
 
#16 ·
Very bad news regarding the Cruddas Street Flats Project . .

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nort...tyneside-redevelopment-scheme-72703-25059291/

Builders pull out of Tyneside redevelopment scheme
Oct 31 2009 by Amy Hunt, Evening Chronicle



THE future of some of Tyneside's best-known housing blocks hangs in the balance after builders pulled out of a redevelopment scheme. Gentoo and Bellway have backed away from renovating tower blocks at Riverside Dene, formerly known as Cruddas Park, because of the recession. As the first three blocks emerge from behind scaffolding with a new look, the future of the other seven high-rises is in jeopardy.

It is thought at least one of the blocks is likely to be demolished as cash runs dry.

Six months ago the estate was “re-branded” and renamed at a cost of £45,000 as part of the £90m renovation of the scheme. The aim was to transform not only the physical appearance of the area but also the aspirations of people who live there. Work has been going on to revamp three of the 1960s-built blocks inside and out with the aim to provide them to rent through Your Homes Newcastle. But the fourth block earmarked for refurbishment for private sale is standing empty and work cannot now start on it, or any of the other blocks, because the partners have backed out.

Of the 10 blocks at Riverside Dene due for renovation as part of the six-year project which also involves Bridging NewcastleGateshead, Centre West and contractor Wates Living Space, five were to be available for rent and five for sale.

An agreement made between the public and private partners meant Newcastle City Council would kick off the refurbishment, to tidy up the outside of the buildings and modernise the flats inside, with Gentoo and Bellway picking up the bill. But because of the recession and the property market crash, the developer is now not able to raise the cash needed and the council does not want to take the risk of starting the work and finding itself counting the cost.

Councillors gave the go-ahead for emergency talks to try to rescue the project back in July, but deadlines came and went without the partners committing. Council bosses say they are considering all their options in relation to Riverside Dene. Phil Joyce, director of area based regeneration at Newcastle City Council, said: “The first three social blocks, which will be managed by Your Homes Newcastle, are on schedule for completion next year, and many residents have pre-selected their new apartments.

“Our plan was for the next blocks to be redeveloped as private apartments, before the recession hit market confidence and made it impossible for first-time buyers to get mortgages. All the partners have had to rethink the next phase and the Council’s executive has asked for a thorough study of the options for the rest of the blocks.

“We are on schedule to report back on a shortlist of costed options in the next two to three months. In the current economic climate, Gentoo and Bellway are not able to take the significant financial risk involved at this stage, so we are looking at alternative options with a view to renewing a fourth block as early as possible. “Our partners have helped us to bring substantial funding into the city, and were instrumental in developing the new look for the blocks.

“We continue to work with them on designs for the estate, as well as the nearby Loadman Street development, and they may still have a major role to play in the future. “Our key aim is to ensure a sustainable future for Riverside Dene, with good quality shopping facilities and services.”

The private partners said they did not want to comment.

Built in the 1960s, the high rises of Cruddas Park, famously used in the BBC series Our Friends in the North, were part of council leader T Dan Smith’s grand plan for a “city in the sky”.

In July housing minister John Healey announced £1.7m of Government funding for a biomass wood-burning heating system at Riverside Dene, to trim residents’ fuel bills and help tackle climate change and work is going on to choose a contractor for the scheme.
 
#18 ·
This is obviously disappointing and seems to be down to the lack of confidence the developers have in selling the units at the necessary values to recoup their costs. I hope a way forward can be found - something needs to be done to help transform the area and extend regeneration westwards.

The scheme was ambitious but made sense at a time when there was a rising market and there were a lot of young couples, professional singles etc looking for an apartment close to town but at more affordable prices. The flats in these blocks are generously proportioned and are significantly bigger than you'd get in some of the city centre shoeboxes.

Given rising demand for council housing it is of course possible that these can be re-let, but they could still benefit from a refurb. The city has a reasonable amount of "capacity" for two bed tower block flats (there has been a long term policy that they are not appropriate for families / children) and the greatest demand and shortest supply is for 3 bed family homes - which makes it even more ironic the previous council demolished thousands of them "because no-one wanted them".
 
#19 ·
The single biggest positive step NCC could make for that part of town would be physically reconnecting it to the city centre in some way. The simple fact is that for all the redevelopment that has taken place there, everything west of the Boulevard "feels" rougher than town, just because of being so cut-off. I don't know what the answer is, but simply tarting up Cruddas Park was never going to be it.
 
#20 ·
I find that the main problem with the West End is how fractured and low density it feels. You can walk to almost anywhere in the East (Sandyford, Heaton, Byker, possibly Walker) and North (Jesmond, Gosforth etc) of the city from the centre without having to be on a road that isn't a well defined street more than a small handful of times. The city seems to be continuous in that respect and therefore feels connected.

To the West you seem to be able to walk through huge tracts of undefined space (Elswick and Cruddas Park in particular having a lot of this), which like Seamaster's point about the boulevard, makes you feel very disconnected.

If the council looks to start filling in the empty and unused/underused sites closest to town and builds outwards, creating well defined routes to the centre, it would make the West End a much more attractive place to live.
 
#21 ·
I find that the main problem with the West End is how fractured and low density it feels. You can walk to almost anywhere in the East (Sandyford, Heaton, Byker, possibly Walker) and North (Jesmond, Gosforth etc) of the city from the centre without having to be on a road that isn't a well defined street more than a small handful of times. The city seems to be continuous in that respect and therefore feels connected.

To the West you seem to be able to walk through huge tracts of undefined space (Elswick and Cruddas Park in particular having a lot of this), which like Seamaster's point about the boulevard, makes you feel very disconnected.

If the council looks to start filling in the empty and unused/underused sites closest to town and builds outwards, creating well defined routes to the centre, it would make the West End a much more attractive place to live.
Agree entirely with that, and yet it is only a relatively recent situation.

Until the mass destructions of "streets" and replacement of them with a combination of "nothing" and a "big road" and a "one-off buidling" or a "wall" or a "building facing in a different direction to the previous streetscape" (or whatever) that was planned to happen and then happened in the late 60s and early 70s and "contunuously thereafter" - Western Newcastle was every bit as 'connected' together and to the City Centre as North and East Newcastle still is.

To explain that rather long sentence!

When I lived in Elswick in the 60s as a child, I could just walk down decent civilised streets, continuously, down into the City Centre. You would come down (say) Elswick Road (and you could go off in any direction down real joined up "streets", but you could also keep on going up to 'the Big Lamp').

Then, on past the Big Lamp down Westgate Road (the West Road and Elswick Road 'merged' at the Big Lamp heading into town) past an increasing number of shops (including the, still there, bike shops) and into the early parts of the City Centre. You would pass the three cinemas (The Pavilion, The Stoll, The Essoldo) all very civilised . . and then you were into the City Centre.

I chose the 'Elswick Road/Wesgate road' route, but you could use Wesmorland Road (next one South) or Scotswood Road (next one South again) and you could divert off at right angles all the way along ANY of them, and you would still be going down normal civilised STREETS!!!!

OK, it was never a rich/middle class area and a lot of the housing needed replacing (no doubt) but they didn't have to DESTROY the STREETS.

This was a continuous City, it could so easily have remained that, it SHOULD have remained that.

For goodness sake, the MESS it is now in, the separation and the tracts of 'undefined space' are everywhere . . you cannot even walk the short distance to the ARENA (very close to the City Centre) without feeling it!

It is (purely) a 'planned' and 'planning' disaster, continuously (not just 60s and 70s) over the last 40 years or so. It is almost beyond saving. What is worse, I am pretty certain that this separation/devastation/undefined space issue, is not realised /noticed where it matters, and that N O T H I N G is currently being 'planned to be done' to repair it. Nothing.

Rant over . . (not worth ranting, nothing will happen)
 
#22 ·
number of posts that hit the nail on the head there.

Westgate Road is the only 'route' out of the centre that feels like a real city street with a bit of life to it and this stops as soon as you hit the Tower Blocks at the top of the hill. There is some more urbanity and activity further west around the hospital, wingrove road etc, but atm there's a big gap between this and the city. Flatten the huge area of council housing at Arthur's Hill, reconnect the two with dense housing on legible, coherent streets and it would help to spread the positives qualities of the city centre westward.

Scotswood Road is, sadly, probably too far gone now to attempt this. And it's only not because of Cruddas Park, but the more lowrise council flats/maisonettes nearer the city centre, and the College, which treats Scotswood Road as nothing more than a carpark entrance.
 
#23 ·
Think you're right about Scotswood Rd, which is a dual carriageway now (albeit a fairly well designed and landscaped one) rather than a conventional urban street. About 100 years ago Elswick Road was a very grand street - you can still see traces of it (Stephenson Building and the one on the corner of Beech Grove Road, ditto the one on the corner of Elswick Row) and it had trams, shops, cinemas, you name it. It has gone downhill a lot since then of course.

Armstrong Road never joined up properly with Westmorland Road going east / west, but the bigger problem for the West End is the lack of north/south connectivity. If you want to go from Scotswood Road to West Road, you have to "go along" to "go up".
 
#24 ·
Greg,

What do you think about (as I and Anger said above) the fact that we had a 'continuous' city, and we want (and need) to get that back (as said, even the short walk from City Centre to Arena is 'unpleasant' in parts) if we are ever to upgrade/bring back the inner 'West End' . . so we need active policies to look at how to do this (remove disjointed and un-defined spaces) and then to try and build up the continuity with normal/conventional streets - like it used to be (but better even!) all the way between the West End (inner) and the City Centre. I accept the Scotswood Road link-area is a different problem, as it is now a dual carriageway. The road system at the immediate 'Newcastle end' of the Redheugh Bridge is a particular problem, without the resolution of which (made simpler/more friendly) all else (even if the City Council 'attempt' to do something) could well fail.
 
#25 ·
Apparently Scotswood Rd represents a physcological barrier for west end residents - what was once a simple street connecting the upper residential end with the lower industrial zone is now perceived as an impenetrable obstacle. One way of getting over this though is building High density active frontages right on the street, bringing people back there as a focal point (i'm thinking edgeware road in London as an example). The southern side could be, as the council desires, Commercial developments, while the northern part could be used for the College, Student res, council housing and private housing. A tram running down this street would also make sense. But there should be a policy to concentrate new development hard against the road so that there is no dead space. Unfortunately the College expansions have done nothing of the sort.
 
#26 ·
Depends on what you're looking for - a permeable pedestrian-friendly environment or an easily navigable road network. Am not clear what the current status of the Redheugh Bridgehead "hamburger junction" is.

I don't think there's a lot to be gained from making Scotswood Rd active frontage again; given the usage the road gets I think it's better staying as is with a landscaped buffer; don't forget there is a considerable level change between the adjoining communities and the road itself.

The inactive spaces in the West End are not a deliberate policy, but they have emerged over time as previous developments have been cleared. In some cases these haven't been adequately re-planned (Rye Hill); but in others (Westmorland Road / Kenilworth Rd / Warrington Rd) there have been some landscaped improvements.
 
#28 ·
Outdoor clothing chain to create 40 new jobs

from http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/latest-business-news/2009/11/04/outdoor-clothing-chain-to-create-40-new-jobs-51140-25087832/

OUTDOOR clothing chain GO Outdoors is set to create more than 40 jobs in Newcastle as part of its aggressive expansion plans to open 19 new stores by 2011.

The firm, which is headquartered in Sheffield, is to open a new superstore at the former Wickes site in West Denton Way, Newcastle, next month, which will become the region’s second store following the launch of an outlet in Stockton in March.

Newcastle will become the seventh store opening since the firm’s completion of an £18m refinancing package with Bank of Scotland Corporate earlier in the year and follows new stores in Wolverhampton and Bristol last year and Pudsey, Harlow and Basildon this year.

The new site
, which will become the firm’s 14th, will feature a centrepiece family-friendly 5m-high indoor climbing wall, which will allow customers to experience indoor rock climbing, as well as test new footwear on a range of different walking surfaces.

It will offer more than 20,000 outdoor lines, including everything from walking boots to ski-wear, fleeces to cycling equipment and tents to fishing equipment.

There will also be a dedicated tent area with more than 35 tents in 10,000sq ft of synthetic turf.

GO Outdoors Newcastle store manager Liz MacDougall said: “GO Outdoors is passionate about inspiring as many people as possible in the North East to get out and enjoy the outdoors lifestyle available on their doorstep.

“We hope the new Newcastle store will achieve just that.”
So this will go to where Wickes was, near Blockbusters/McDonalds - meanwhile new Wickes is sitting on its new site all on its own. Any idea if those other empty unites are to be taken?
 
#36 ·
i had no idea the brewery had extended over those houses and the green space so recently! the small triangle at the right of the pic still exists - they're too low-density for the location imo, but still, the pic demonstrates very well how we've lost tightly ordered small streets and replaced them with expansive roads and windswept empty spaces.
 
#53 ·
i had no idea the brewery had extended over those houses and the green space so recently! the small triangle at the right of the pic still exists - they're too low-density for the location imo, but still, the pic demonstrates very well how we've lost tightly ordered small streets and replaced them with expansive roads and windswept empty spaces.
yup .. it was huge !!

here's a picture of the brewery site from 2001 showing how much it had expanded and in the process swallowing up most of Buckingham St and everything else up to Pitt St .. only about 50 yards of Buckingham St still exists at its northern most junction with the West Rd ..

 
Top