Another 73 new homes planned for major Newcastle estate despite warnings it 'can't cope'

Residents of the Newcastle Great Park development and city politicians have complained for years over a lack of GP surgeries, shops, schools, buses, and other facilities to serve its population.

Councillors “reluctantly” approved plans for 140 houses on land between the Great Park and Hazlerigg village just last month, amid warnings that future occupiers would have to cross the busy A1 North Brunton Interchange roundabout to reach the nearest bus stop and would be 15 to 20 minutes’ walk from the Great Park’s town centre.

And a decision is now due on a further 73 houses on an undeveloped patch of the Great Park itself.

Newcastle City Council’s planning committee will consider proposals from Durham-based Banks Property this Friday to build on fields in between Brunton Lane and Rose Tree Avenue, with a mix of two, three, four and five-bedroom homes.

City planners are recommending that the scheme is granted approval, despite 46 objections from locals.

Opponents of the development warned the council that the estate’s infrastructure cannot cope with more housing and that the project risks having a “ damaging effect” on wildlife.

One objector described the Great Park as a “ mess with unfinished paths and roads”, while another wrote: “Basic amenities such as completed roads, transport links, retail and hospitality services, schools and safe road markings and crossings still haven’t been delivered. This project should be placed on hold until services promised for the existing development are delivered.”

16 comments in support of the application were also received, highlighting improvements to footpaths and cycleways and the creation of “high quality” family homes, though the council said these were a “standard letter from properties that live some distance away from the site”.

In their assessment of the application, council planners argue that the 73 homes would “help sustain existing local services and facilities within Newcastle Great Park, including shops, schools, and public transport provision”.

While admitting that the land in question was “not necessarily envisaged” for a housing development, planners said that the proposed homes would “connect well to the surrounding infrastructure”.

They added; “The development offers significant benefits by contributing towards a strong economy and supporting economic growth and productivity, thereby providing wider opportunities for development. It would, through the provision of 73 new homes, the creation of publicly accessible open space and by securing access to community services, support the creation of strong, vibrant and healthy communities.”