£10 million housing development approved for Blakelaw

Newcastle City Council has given planning permission for a £10 million housing development on a brownfield site at Colwyne Place in Blakelaw.

Keepmoat Homes will be building 98 properties, of which 57 will be for sale, while the remaining 41 will be owned by Leazes Homes, the charitable subsidiary of Your Homes Newcastle (YHN), and will be available for shared ownership and rent.

Properties for sale will include two and three-bedroom houses and a two bedroom bungalow.
The properties to be owned by Leazes Homes include two, three and four-bedroom homes and six bungalows, two of which have been specifically designed for wheelchair access. All of these properties will be managed by YHN.

The development is on the former site of the Blakelaw Deck Access flats, which were built in 1969 and designed by the council architect Doug H Cunningham. The deck access flats, standing on stilts above the ground with connecting walkways, were part of a grand plan to create communities but they gradually fell into disrepair, leading local people and councillors to lobby YHN to replace the flats with modern housing.

Demolition works completed in April and it is anticipated that work will start on site at the beginning of September with the first homes completed in early 2011.

Bill Midgley, Chair of Leazes Homes, said: “Local residents have been actively involved in shaping this development before and since demolition, culminating in a series of open days held earlier this summer. Their involvement has helped us produce a scheme that it is sustainable and in tune with what local people want. We’re pleased that work can now start on site this summer – it’s great news for Blakelaw and Newcastle as a whole.”