Planting seed for Gateshead's New York ambition
Nov 22 2008 by Neil McKay, The Journal
A ONE billion pound scheme to turn Gateshead into a “Lower East Side New York” was unveiled by civic leaders yesterday.
More than 3,000 new houses are to be built over the next 20 years in a project billed as the biggest and most imaginative scheme of its type outside London.
And council leader Mick Henry pledged that 750 of the new homes would be “affordable”.
He said: “Our intention is not only to revitalise the housing stock and market in the borough but also to improve and regenerate neighbourhoods and green spaces in Gateshead.” Designer Wayne Hemingway, who is responsible for the popular Staiths housing project by the riverside, where homeowners are restricted to one car and cycle paths have been created to help residents pedal to work, said: “If you do good design and work together as a team with a dynamic local authority then you can create real added value and imaginative environments, and that is already happening in Gateshead.”
Comparing the regeneration ambitions to those on the Left Bank of Paris, or New York’s Lower East Side, Mr Hemingway added: “Gateshead will never become part of Clone Town Britain.”
He was speaking at the launch at the Baltic Art Centre where the council announced it was looking for a developer or consortium to become a joint partner.
“We want partners who will work with us to breathe new life into areas, who can go that extra mile to create long-lasting communities,” added Mr Hemingway.
Areas set for redevelopment include Bensham, Beacon Lough, parts of Blaydon, Chopwell, Elizabethville and Northside in Birtley, Ravenswood, Sunderland Road West and the Felling By-pass corridor.
Coun Henry added: “More than 70 hectares of land will be redeveloped over about 19 sites, creating 3,000 new homes. The sites range in size from half hectare up to 12 hectares and are a mix of greenfield and brownfield sites.”
He stressed that no current homes would be demolished during the facelift. Gateshead is already the first site in the UK to head a housing revolution with a radical Swedish-designed concept in affordable homes. Called BoKlok, around 90 Scandinavian-style timber-framed houses and flats have been built close to the International Stadium, to a design pioneered by Swedish construction firm Skanska in partnership with Ikea.
Civic leaders across the Tyne in Scotswood, Newcastle, were widely criticised when they threatened to demolish 6,000 homes as part of a Going for Growth project – so much so that the then ruling Labour group lost control of the city council in 2004.
Read more stories on this issue
:: The future? Really, it's all up in the air - Jan 17 2007 By Ross Smith, The Journal
:: New look for Gateshead town centre unveiled - Oct 1 2008 by Paul James, The Journal
