Plans for a new apartment complex in the Ouseburn are finally set to go ahead, after a lengthy battle with city bosses. Newcastle City Council’s planning committee granted approval for 57 flats to be built in Lime Street on Friday morning.
An earlier version of the crescent-shaped housing complex had been rejected by councillors in 2023, over concerns that it would harm the Ouseburn Valley’s conservation area and that some of the flats would not have adequate light levels. A planning inspector later upheld that decision after the developer appealed the council’s verdict, due to the unsatisfactory light levels, but also concluded that the benefits of regenerating a disused patch of land would outweigh any damage to the area.
New versions of the plans, which were put forward by By the River Brew Co. co-founder Rob Cameron, saw three affected apartments at the southern end of the site redesigned to become dual-aspect in order to increase the amount of light they get. The redrawn vision, which would require the demolition of buildings including a former MOT centre and a pigeon cree to make way for a six-storey block, were unanimously approved by the planning committee at a Civic Centre hearing on Friday.
Lib Dem councillor and lord mayor Henry Gallagher said: “I think they are making good use of the space. The developer has looked at the issues we raised last time with the light into apartments and changed things around. It is also good that there are going to be some commercial units which might bring more jobs into the area. I am definitely in favour of it.”
Councillors were told that four commercial units on the ground and first floor of the development could include cafes, a bakery, and offices.
Labour councillor Stephen Lambert said that the new-build would be a major upgrade on the “grubby” state of the site as it is today. He added: “It is an attractive development and it will be a vast improvement on what is there already.”
The committee also heard that the council had accepted the developer’s argument that it was not financially viable for the developer to provide any affordable housing in the Lime Street complex or provide funding to help build any elsewhere in the city.
