A decision on a £60 million student housing tower planned in Newcastle city centre has been postponed. Councillors were due to deliver their verdict on Friday over proposals for a massive redevelopment of the vacant Hadrian House.
The project would involve the demolition of the disused block, which formerly housed snooker club The Hustler, and the construction of a 21-storey student accommodation complex in its place. If approved, the new building would be among the tallest in the city.
Decision deferred to September
Newcastle City Council has pushed back the hearing on the plans, led by developers Sona Estates and Argon, until next month at the earliest. Civic Centre officials cancelled this week’s planning committee meeting due to the new set of national planning rules announced by housing secretary Angela Rayner on Monday.
Reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) include a switch to a “default yes” approach for housing developments within walking distance of well-connected train stations, as well as greater protections for pubs. While there was no suggestion that the new policies would necessarily change council planners’ recommendation that the Hadrian House plans be granted permission, the local authority said it wanted to take time to fully consider the new framework’s impact.
Council statement on the delay
The council’s assistant director of planning, Louise Sloan, said: “Following the Government’s publication of the revised National Planning Policy Framework earlier this week we have taken the decision in consultation with the chair of planning committee to defer this week’s meeting. The revised framework takes effect immediately and therefore we want to ensure that all applications are in conformity with the framework and considered by members. We anticipate that this will be done in time for the next planning committee which is scheduled to meet on September 4.”
Details of the proposed development
As well as 1970s-built Hadrian House itself, the plans would also involve the demolition of a series of high-level walkways linked to it which have been described as an “underused and unwelcoming” remnant of the city’s past. The student accommodation complex would be made up of two towers, the largest of which would stand 21 storeys high, connected by a link building.
It would provide 507 bedrooms, plus a regenerated public space that would incorporate part of the Saville Place car park. Two objections were lodged against the development, with neighbours from Higham Place claiming that the loss of daylight resulting from the new build would create an “unacceptable sense of enclosure” and an “oppressive outlook” for existing residents.
However, city planners called it a “high quality, contemporary addition to the city” and Northumbria University said the housing complex would help address a “significant and pressing” shortage of accommodation for a population of nearly 60,000 students in Newcastle.
