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169K views 543 replies 72 participants last post by  Ken O'Heed 
#1 ·
Description from Newcastle City Council:

The scheme is being delivered by the Great Park Consortium, which includes the house builders Persimmon Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Charles Church. Parts of the development have also been built by Barratt and Bryant.

The early phases of the housing development, known as Warkworth Woods and Melbury are almost complete. The next phase Greenside, to the north of Kingston Park is also well underway.

The largest phase of housing development is being planned to the west of the A1 road, along with the local centre. Around 2500 homes are proposed to be built in total.

Sage and the Primary Care Trust are located at the Great Park on the business park.

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/newcastlegreatpark


Description from newcastlegreatpark.com:

Newcastle Great Park (NGP) is an impressive sustainable urban development situated in the North East of England. Uniquely positioned in a rural setting, the park will encompass high quality residential dwellings, commercial premises and community facilities offering universal appeal.

Just three miles from Newcastle city centre, the development already has more than 550 homes built and occupied by residents who desire a great new way of living. When completed NGP will offer a wide range of contemporary housing, a high quality business park and a fully developed town centre incorporating retail, health, leisure, hotel and community facilities.

Half of the 1,200 acre site is being landscaped to create a rich mix of woodland and meadowland with hills, vales and streams- all of which can be enjoyed by residents and visitors to Newcastle Great Park. With the inclusion of wide open spaces, cycle paths and walkways the park promotes a healthy lifestyle for everyone to enjoy.

Newcastle Great Park is one of the most accessible locations in the North East from air, rail, road and sea. The development benefits from an entirely new infrastructure of road systems, cycle-ways and its own dedicated public transport services.

http://www.newcastlegreatpark.com/


Plan:




Images:





The world HQ for Sage software is located within the centre of Newcastle Great Park:



http://www.hickton.co.uk/projects/


This large project is currently under phased development with already a large number of homes built, the next phase is another block of houses and the development of the centre of Great Park with the inclusion of Primary health care facilities, A new first school, Crèche, Health Club, A hotel, Hospital and ancillary healthcare facilities.
 
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#3 ·
Being a resident of North Gosforth I really wish they had left this area of the city alone until they had filled Scotswood (which is just desolate) etc, the transport links are atrocious and the urban design, access and landscaping is foul.

Meanwhile Scotswood with much better access and transport links and in desperate need of regeneration lies empty.

Progress?
 
#4 ·
Yeah but middle class, middle income tax PAYERS (rather than dodgers :lol: ) want to live in North Newcastle, not West. The problem Newcastle is trying to fix is that of North Tyneside luring middle-class families to another local authority with their raft of build em big and sell em cheap housing (Northumberland Park being the prime example).
 
#5 ·
Quite right Toonlad, they're just trying to counteract NT's lure as a commuter area, in the same way that NT has tried to create retail centres to counteract the lure of Newcastle city centre. Exactly why they shouldn't be separate councils!

Also, those images up at the top aren't current, they're for the original masterplan, it's a lot less Poundbury now. I agree that the public transport links aren't great, but the doomed Project Orpheus did have a link to it. Would have been nice to have trams running down the 'High Street' of NGP into the city centre, shame.
 
#6 ·
Quite right Toonlad, they're just trying to counteract NT's lure as a commuter area, in the same way that NT has tried to create retail centres to counteract the lure of Newcastle city centre. Exactly why they shouldn't be separate councils!

Also, those images up at the top aren't current, they're for the original masterplan, it's a lot less Poundbury now. I agree that the public transport links aren't great, but the doomed Project Orpheus did have a link to it. Would have been nice to have trams running down the 'High Street' of NGP into the city centre, shame.
Beat me to it!!
 
#8 · (Edited)
Just out of interest, my cousin used to live in Brunton Park and his house overlooked miles of green fields for years . . nothing else. Then, in the 1990s, the 'Newcastle Western Bypass' (A1) crossed the fields about two miles away. He didn't notice that too much (though he could 'just' hear the hum of traffic). Then, in 2003, in front of his eyes 'Newcastle Great Park' started being built, taking over ALL of his fields. He has since moved, but took a series of photos of the "invasion" which I have copies of . . here are just EIGHT of them, showing what happened . . .

1 - Prior to 2003, his view across the fields towards the A1.


2 - 21st March 2003.


3 - 21st June 2003.


4 - 19th July 2003.


5 - 21st September 2003.


6 - 27th December 2003.


7 - 8th February 2004.


8 - 16th April 2004, construction finished, view all GONE.



These time-lapse photos show what many parts of the housing of Newcastle Great Park is like (so far) really quite 'condensed', with small (or non-existent) front gardens and with houses close to the streets.

The photos also demonstrate how you can never rely on keeping your view!!!

.
 
#10 ·
Hmmm, true to a point, but as Irish Blood says there's a lot of brownfield left in the city (and much closer to the centre) so there's no real reason to be churning out these boxes at the NGP.

It's only still going because the council have signed up to it and can't break off from delivering the Great Park now. I bet if you asked anyone involved they'd say that they'd rather stop it now - or even that they'd have been better off never having started.
 
#14 ·
It's only still going because the council have signed up to it and can't break off from delivering the Great Park now. I bet if you asked anyone involved they'd say that they'd rather stop it now - or even that they'd have been better off never having started.
Is that your opinion or do you know that for fact? If so who is saying they want to stop it or wish they'd never started?

Just to further what Greg has said, I have done research into the local economy in the past and it shows that the majority of middle class/people in high position jobs prefer to live away from the actual city and commute. The inner city is not seen as desirable, however this is where the jobs are so people have to live nearby. From this I'd say Great Park is in the right position for this particular market and should help retain the population who otherwise opt to move to rural Northumberland.
 
#11 ·
Great Park never made more sense then to build more needed housing. As everyone now knows though, you need to build facilities with the houses, so they came up with the idea that you can do everything, including work without going out of your housing estate. The trouble with it is,

1. Is their enough middle class people to fill the houses?

2. Will it mean a large percentage of middle class people will move away from places like North Tyneside?, thus making North Tyneside even more of a working class district, and increasing the number of problems you have following that.

3. Is it worth the cost?, I'm sure the money would of been better off spending money on the city centre in all areas and also regenerating the west end of Newcastle.
 
#12 ·
The problem Newcastle had/has was that a lot of its middle class / managerial / aspirational population was moving out of the city to places like Tynedale and Morpeth. It was agreed that there was an urgent need to regenerate the West and East Ends but with the best will in the world the Great Park buyers weren't going to contemplate moving to Walker or Scotswood as a first choice destination. Newcastle thus had to build something or risk losing this population to other areas beyond the city boundary. A city needs to retain its population and tax base if it is to prosper.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, I agree with Greg, I don't think there was a decision to not do Scotswood till NGP was done or anything. It's just that Scotswood is taking forever to do anything. I can't think of enough Brownfield land in Newcastle to house all of the houses planned for NGP, not counting Scotswood, as, as Greg says, middle income middle-class families aren't going to move to Scotswood for love nor money. They want to live in north Newcastle. Oh, and the reason's the houses are so close together at NGP is down to PPG3/PPS3 I think. Having said all of that, I'm not at all convinced how well NGP will work as a retail centre. I'll have a look and post the locations of the current planning applications for the site, not that old stuff at the top. I think I posted them before somewhere on the old thread, but no chance of finding that again!
 
#15 ·
Found it:

If you follow this link, the documents for the bit of NGP north of Brunton Lane can be viewed. There's a lot of old documents in there, but if you follow the dates, there's a design and access statement put in April/May, which has a lot of stuff in.

No detail yet on the bit of the town centre south of Brunton lane, but it looks like you can see it on some of the drawings.


The Scheme Design Document added in June 2009 seems to have a lot of info in
 
#17 ·
I think I have been miss interperated. I did not mean that middle class families could be housed inplaces like Walker, Scotswood etc. I did actually mean that surely more should be done for middle class families who live in places like Monkseaton, Whitley Bay, Jesmond, Gosforth.
I do think that money should be spent on these other places, To me it seems that the housing belonging to NCC appear to be within more problemed areas, and look to be alot more shalll I say basic/rundown then houses owned by say North Tyneside. I know places like North Shields, Wallsend, Killingworth etc are not pretty by anyones view, but the NCC counter parts of Byker, Walker, Scotswood and the west end seem to be down another notch, and something must be done about this.
I myself do, and would actually prefer to live in one of the working class neighbourhoods of North Tyneside then one of those run by NCC.

But this to be is not saying middle class familes should move to these areas to make them better, or NCC to invest in them for that aim, it's just asking the question would the money not be better spent upgrading these areas to a higher standard?

I don't think midle class families moving to places like Morpeth and Tynedale is a major concern right now, because they are still more then likely going to work, socialise, shop, and be entertained in Newcastle, Newcastle will still be a major influence on their lives. Atleast that is how appears to me, the stats may prove me wrong.
 
#18 ·
Don't have as big a problem with some of the housing element but i don't really think offices should be built that far out. Though iirc Sage threatened to leave the city altogether if they didnt get their way.

In order to boost the tax base NCC should try to annex Darras Hall.
 
#19 ·
Don't have as big a problem with some of the housing element but i don't really think offices should be built that far out. Though iirc Sage threatened to leave the city altogether if they didnt get their way.

In order to boost the tax base NCC should try to annex Darras Hall.
Is that an option? im guessing the tax dollars of Darras Hall and Morpeth are probably bankrolling Northumberland CC's projects across Wansbeck and Blyth Valley (or what once were, since their dissolution).

Without wanting to get political, and my bias may be well-known, but I think we're letting North Tyneside off lightly here. Their modus operandi over the past decade seems to have been to create one vast commuter hive for Newcastle, investing next to f-all in the town centres (why bother when all your residents shop and work in Newcastle, or Silverlink/Cobalt/Quorum?) and churning out identikit estates and continuing Newcastles Eastwards featureless urban sprawl (Holystone, Palmersville, Northumberland Park, etc).

Though to be fair, the regen work on Battle Hill (surely the last word in crack infested maze estates) and Longbenton has to be recognised. grudgingly!
 
#20 ·
BL: agree with every word...

NGP was predicated (and agreed by Prescott) on the requirement for a major modern business park with A1/airport access with associated housing, retail, and community facilities.... although Sage was lured there at significant cost others were slow to follow and the housing part has outstripped the intended employment development.

The Lib Dems were against it in opposition but it was already agreed and well underway when we took over - we would have probably preferred to reconfigure it quite a bit and I don't think we would have proposed the same quantum of development. If we had cancelled it, it would have sent out extremely negative signals that development wasn't welcome in Newcastle (I know some feel we could still do more to counter this).

I recognise the argument that its existence "competes" with the greater need to attract homeowners to the East and West End regen areas (and I would have preferred it to be significantly more sustainable in terms of build for a Green Belt development to get permission) but as has been noted there has been a general acceptance that some form of "urban extension" to the north west was logical for the city's long term growth, not least because there isn't any other direction to go in!
 
#21 ·
I know a number of people who have worked on NGP and have a lot of regrets about how it has turned out, that's all.

I completely understand the reason for building more executive homes in Newcastle, but I do feel like the market has changed somewhat since NGP first started to be dreamed up. Say whatever you like, but the NGP is an entirely car-driven development. The business park is separated from the shopping area, which similarly is quite well cut off from much of the housing. If we want to create sustainable communities we should be looking to mix commercial and office space together, along with some housing, to create a genuine centre that wouldn't have so much of the massive car parks that have been in the town centre plans since day one. This centre should in turn be closely surrounded by more housing, not cut off by wide roads. It reminds me of Washington for crying out loud.

I don't blame the Lib Dems I should add, it was too far down the road by the time they got in. I blame the developers (who prefer to keep everything neatly zoned) and the system that allows the developers too much say. The public sector should have a much greater say in the design, with developers simply delivering these designs. This obviously would have an impact on profits, and therefore land values, but so be it.

As for Scotswood, I just hope it doesn't go the same way. I appreciate that the management classes won't live in Scotswood, but when you're building thousands of houses at NGP it must have an impact on the demand for a new development in Scotswood.

And yes, Lebowski's right, North Tyneside have a lot to answer for. And unfortunately, they don't look like stopping in their pursuit of huge, sprawling identikit suburban estates. It will come back to bite the area in the end, if it hasn't already.
 
#27 ·
I'm like you Chatton, this gets on my nerves!!

This "North" Park thing (and how it persists in the face of facts) NEVER existed. Newcastle Great Park NEVER used to called "North" Park!

There used to be a "Northern Development Area", for planning purposes, in Newcastle, which is approximately where Newcastle Great Park is.

But there was never a "North" Park (be it "Great" or otherwise) anywhere in Newcastle.

We even have a thread called Newcastle Great Park (NGP) . . .

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=983386
 
#24 ·
Newcastle Great Park - Latest update May 2010.


Newcastle Great Park (NGP) is located three miles north west of the City Centre, close to the A1.

It is a major development, with land allocated for . .

• A Business Park
• Housing
• A 'Town' Centre
• A First School
• Nursery (next to the school)
• Community Facilities
• Open Spaces
• Play Areas and Outdoor Sport.

The scheme is being delivered by the "Great Park Consortium", which includes the house builders Persimmon Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Charles Church. Parts of the development have also been built by Barratt.


Developments East of the A1 (Melbury and Warkworth Woods)

The earliest phases of NGP housing development, known as Melbury and Warkworth Woods, are almost complete. These properties are on the East side of the A1.

There is also a Residents' Association for Melbury and Warkworth Woods - visit their website at www.melburyandwarkworthwoods.com


Developments West of the A1 (Greenside, East Moor Village, the 'Town' Centre, Western Village, community facilities, affordable housing, park & ride)

The largest phase of housing development is being built on the West side of the A1, along with the 'town' centre.

Around 2500 homes are proposed.

Greenside - Greenside is one of the developments on the West side of the A1. It is located just north of Kingston Park. When complete there will be 320 homes. A plan of Greenside and more information will follow.

It is hoped to form a Residents Association for the Greenside development.

East Moor Village - East Moor Village is located next to Brunton First School. When complete there will be 82 homes. A plan of East Moor Village will follow.

Affordable Housing - The first phase of affordable housing is now complete in the town centre. This includes an extra care facility with 40 two bedroom self contained flats and two buildings containing 42 two bed flats with ground floor mixed use rental units.

Cheviot Housing group are responsible for letting and managing this scheme. Contact information to follow

The 'Town' Centre - The NGP Consortium and Newcastle City Council have worked together to produce a design for a vibrant and exciting town centre which sits a the heart of the NGP development.

The multiple use town centre will be centered around a new supermarket with North to South pedestrian boulevard, market square and links to the surrounding housing and strategic open space.

In the town centre it is planned that high street style shops, cafes and restaurants will provide for the needs of the new community and careful and practical integration of level changes across the site will ensure that pedestrian and vehicle access is achieved and accessible to all users.

There are also plans to build a hotel, private hospital and leisure facility in a zone North of Brunton Lane accessed from Great Park Way.

For further enquiries on the exciting opportunities for the hotel, private hospital, leisure facility and retail units contact Knight Frank on 0191 221 2211.

Western Village - Work is due to start on a further 280 houses West of the town centre.

Community Facilities - Newcastle City Council has given approval in principle for the location of a community building and sports pitches near to Brunton First School. This should be available for use in 2012 - 2013. More information to follow.

Business Park - Sage and the Primary Care Trust are located at the Great Park on the business park.

For more information on the Great Park go to www.newcastlegreatpark.com. We also have more information in the related pages section on the right handside of the screen.

Park and Ride - Newcastle Great Park has a park and ride site. It is located off Great Park Way near to Sage on the business park. There are 500 free parking spaces and is open from 7.00am to 7.00pm Monday to Saturday.

To keep updated on the bus service time table go on the Nexus website http://www.nexus.org.uk
 
#25 ·
I have got to admit that if I was in a decent job and had my own transport I would be interested in buying a house there. A couple of years ago I was involved in a house removal from a house in the estate to a town house in the estate. Now the house that I moved the couple from was rather small but you can get bigger houses but for a large price round there, but the town house they moved to had plenty of rooom, though the staircase was rather narrow. I'm not a town house sort of person but if they were able to offer decent sized houses with an affordable price tag it would be more of an option to people.
 
#26 ·
To be honest, I feel the major problem with NGP is connected to the gargntuan gestation period of the entire scheme. I grew up in Brunton Park and I recall the scheme being first proposed in around 1990/91 (if not earlier). The consultation period, together with the process of gaining permission to build on what had been green belt land, took years to sort out and was fiercely opposed by the people living up at Brunton Park who (not unjustly) felt that it would turn the estate into a bit of a rat run, and that precious little thought had been given to the infrastructure of the new development, which has always been planned predominantly as a housing estate revolving aroun car ownership. The precedents that have underlain the NGP project from the outset have been Kingston Park and Chapel House, rather than any progressive, C21 idea of sustainable suburbia. I appreciate that a lot of the houses are extremely energy-efficient and the like, but it's still a desolute, soulless place with poor bus connections and a need to walk for miles to get anywhere. The street are utterly deserted at night as well. I much prefer living in Heaton, with all the noise, student parties and traffic congestion, to a dead zone like NGP.

I realise NGP was intended as part of an effort to retain middle class types but, tbh, if I was earning the kind of money that enabled me to buy a house in NGP, I would go and buy one at Riding Mill or somewhere instead. At least it's scenic and there's a couple of pubs. I wouldn't live in NGP.
 
#28 · (Edited)
.
^^

The fact is though, that even during the recession, Newcastle Great Park is being built at a very rapid pace, they are fairly expensive houses, and the reason they are being built is because people are buying them!

A lot of people, who have been forced to move out of the City in recent years as they cannot find a suitable home IN the City, want to live in Newcastle very much indeed.

I know many people like that.

Newcastle Great Park is giving these people the opportunity to live here again, and that is why houses in NGP are still being built and still being quickly bought.

NGP is EXACTLY what people want, that is why it is such a success.

It will be a 'soulless' place for quite a while, no amenities, no shops, no 'community'. But, like everywhere else, as it grows and matures (and gets its "Town" Centre heart) it will cease to be soulless and will be a successful part of Newcastle.

In my opinion.

.
 
#29 ·
As for the Great North Park or whatever its called
Jon

Jon,

You make lots of great posts on here, I always enjoy reading them and have learnt a lot from them!

The area you refer to does not contain that magical word "North".

It is simply called . . Newcastle Great Park.

If you want to though, you can continue to call it whatever you fancy!!!

Regards,
Peter.
 
#30 ·
To be honest I never really saw it as anything worthy of a name.... to me and many I know its always just been "those houses near Sage at the bottom of Kingston Park" lol.

Ah well.... Perhpas we need to move this strand of discussion over to a more suitable part of the site though, and begin to focus on Metro and transport related stuff here again....

Jon
 
#35 ·
We'll agree to disagree then!!
Agreed! !


Although I'm not sure I was in disagreement with your post NH! - - - rather than qualifying and adding, I'd hoped. Only disagreeing perhaps with your estimation that the development will be seen as a "positive addition" in years to come. And who knows what we'll think with hindsight?


Anyway, since posting 2 up from this, I went for a cycle ride from the Tyne through Byker, Heaton, Jesmond, Gosforth, Fawdon and round the Great Park itself, to see if I had overstated my argument or got any facts wrong. Its a lovely warm, sunny Sunday afternoon and there are people out in the grassy spaces and streets everywhere, walking, sitting, chatting, eating and just "being out".

But not in NGP. There, I saw only 9 people out, 5 willfully walking dogs (only one would make eye contact, dissaprovingly I thought!); 2 kids on bikes who then left the area; 2 sitting in their cars cleaning or fiddling with them.
Deserted.
Cars everywhere, in the roads, on the pavements, in driveways, in bays; but not people.
As for these miniscule gardens, I wonder if they're imperviously de-coupled from planet earth. I saw more dead plants per house (mostly in innapropriate planters in those 300mm front, er, garden) than the gardens and terraces of Heaton and Jesmond.
I could continue ranting about other features which I don't like, and there are many architectural details to dislike, but I was trying to make a point - to raise questions about the influence that our built environments has upon our society; our behaviour, our values, our expectations and what, in turn, we seek to achieve for our selves and those around us.
I think there is a lot more to be said about these new professionals' villages in those terms, which applies to NGP as much as to others.

But I think I've said enough for now.
 
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