Residents in Newbiggin Hall say they now have “real hope” of a U-turn that would save a popular strip of parkland from development, after Newcastle City Council voted to reconsider the sale of Newbiggin Dene to Persimmon Homes.
Locals from the Meadow Rise estate have been campaigning against the sale of the green corridor off Oulton Close, which is earmarked as the site of an access road to a proposed 239-home development south of the A696. The council sold the land to the housebuilder for a reputed £3 million in a deal struck in 2025, but residents say they were not consulted until February, when a formal statutory notice was published in The Journal.
Council votes to consider alternatives
At an extraordinary council meeting on Wednesday night, Reform UK, Green, and independent councillors united against the Lib Dem leadership to vote through a series of measures called for by residents. These include commitments to give “genuine consideration” to local objections and to bring forward a new report to a public meeting detailing alternative access routes.
Campaigner Megan Thomson-Stewart said the move was a “clear demonstration of unity with residents and a commitment from the council to put things right and this brings us real hope”. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “What has been pursued here, with access through Newbiggin Dene, is the most convenient option for a housing development. What has been put at risk is the wellbeing of the existing community, through inadequate access arrangements within the surrounding estates and the severing of a park that has been the heart of this community for decades. The council has now agreed that residents’ objections must be properly considered, in public, before anything happens to Newbiggin Dene. It has also backed ending the current deal and finding an alternative access that does not require the use of our park.”
Political responses and warnings
Reform UK councillor Brian Moore threatened that, if the development went ahead as currently planned, a judicial review could be brought against the council over its consultation process and “we will win”. He told the meeting that the park was “effectively a smaller version of Jesmond Dene” and served around 24,000 people in the Outer West of Newcastle.
Lib Dem council leader Colin Ferguson, whose party inherited the decisions made under the former Labour administration, has promised a review to ensure “a situation like this never happens again”. He said he backed residents and wanted a “positive outcome”, but was against the resolution brought forward by Coun Moore as he feared its lengthy list of requirements would “distract us from the ultimate goal of resolving this debacle”.
Green leader Nick Hartley said he feared residents had “been sold a bit of a pup from Reform” but would vote in favour of the proposals “with a heavy heart and a careful heart”. Lib Dem cabinet member James Coles had earlier told the meeting that Newbiggin Dene “should probably remain in public ownership and available for the community”.
Persimmon response and next steps
A Persimmon North East spokesperson said: “We continue to work closely with Newcastle City Council on the design and proposed layout of this site which has been allocated for housing since 2015. Over the summer we leafletted neighbouring properties, launched a public consultation website and met with all local ward councillors. We have recently met with a group of residents alongside council officials and Newbiggin councillors to answer questions and help explain the proposed site layout. We also listened to their concerns about the current proposals. We will continue to engage with residents and councillors as work on this application progresses.”
The council has asked Persimmon to consider alternative access routes and mutually terminate the land sale, but has warned it cannot exit the deal unilaterally at this point. The new report on alternative access routes is due to be brought to a public meeting.
