NewcastleGateshead

Pathfinder: Bridging NewcastleGateshead

Introduction

Bridging NewcastleGateshead is the only pathfinder in the North East of England and contains about 77,000 properties. The housing market is characterised by population loss - nearly ten per cent between 1991 and 2001. Things are improving and house prices are rising, although the gap between intervention areas and the North East average is increasing. However, there is still a lot to do - vacancies are still almost seven per cent, of which nearly five per cent have been empty for more than six months and more than 25 per cent over one quarter of the housing stock turns over in a year.

Map of Strategic Commission Areas 2006-08

Key neighbourhood interventions include:

Discovery Quarter, Newcastle - housing will be a key part of the masterplan for this area, which also includes plans for Science Central, a new space for co-location of university and business activities, the core of Science City. New family housing will be built, linking the prosperous City Centre to the West End of Newcastle, to meet the aspirations of people taking up jobs in the growing education and creative industries.
Improvements, demolition and new build in:
- Walker Riverside, Newcastle (see case study)
- Byker Ouseburn, Newcastle - including the redevelopment and improvement of homes in the Byker Design Competition area, including Ralph Erskine's Byker Wall - this area, with its heritage and clusters of 'creative' people, has the potential, in time, to become an artists' quarter
- Bensham and Saltwell, Gateshead - another area that is full of character and different cultures. A combination of interventions will help to make this the cosmopolitan core of Gateshead, and
- Felling, Gateshead - With a large site about to be developed and tasteful improvements to surrounding homes, the transformation of this area, close to the Baltic Business Quarter will generate 5,000-7,000 jobs.

Case study

Walker Riverside

With vacancy rates between 14-25 per cent and population loss of around 15,000 over a 30 year period, Walker Riverside, in the East End of Newcastle, was in a spiral of decline. Average house prices in the area stand at just £65,000 compared to a figure of £133,000 for the North East as a whole - and this gap is widening.

Following an extensive consultation process, a plan for Walker Riverside was drawn up which would see 2,200 new homes built to replace 700 existing dwellings over a 10-15 year timescale.

Picture of a show home in the Walker Riverside area.

Picture: A show home in Walker Riverside

Walker Riverside benefits from a superb riverside location and the proposals for the area will make the most of this, with new parks and public spaces integrated with the housing.

It was important to communicate to local residents how the new homes would look and, in order to engage with the community, two show homes were built. These have been hugely popular; to date, over 1000 people have visited the show homes.

In June 2005, work began on phase one of the work with 29 new homes built on the Cambrian estate.

A key factor in the success of this scheme has been community engagement. Betty Cheetham has lived on the Cambrian estate for 35 years and communication and consultation has allayed any initial concerns and today Betty is excited about the prospect of a new home:

"We're really looking forward to our new home but when I first heard about the proposed demolition of my home I was devastated. Our neighbours were just as shocked; most of the people on the estate have lived around here for a long time and like us, they were worried.

Gradually though we started to move forward. People began talking and listening to us and as we learnt more about the plans, we began to feel better.

We attended meetings and working groups and we could see what was being planned. But the big difference for us was when two new show homes and an information centre were built on the estate. This meant we could see what our new homes would look like and there were also people around if we had any questions or concerns. When the show homes went up, we started to feel excited."