A £500m transformation of Newcastle’s former General Hospital looks set to be approved this week.
Newcastle University’s huge vision to regenerate the facility, in the West End of the city, is expected to win the backing of councillors when it comes before Newcastle City Council’s planning committee on Friday.
The proposals will see the majority of buildings on the old hospital site, dating back to the 1800s, demolished to make way for a world-class expansion of the Campus for Ageing and Vitality (CAV), which currently occupies part of the northern end of the plot.
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University chiefs plan to build vast new research facilities focused on ageing and health issues, NHS and other health-related facilities, as well as other commercial and residential developments – including care home and retirement living accommodation.
The university paid almost £7.5m to buy the Westgate Road site from the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2019, following years of doubt over its future – including the collapse of plans to build a Tesco there.
Should the scheme get the green light from councillors on Friday morning, the redevelopment is expected to take around a decade to complete.
The university said that a key focus of the new research centres would be tackling problems like dementia and frailty.
While the proposals coming before the committee this week are only an outline masterplan for what the area could become and contain “limited information” about the development, city planners have praised the potential impact it would have on the West End.
In a report recommending that councillors are minded to grant planning permission, civic centre officers wrote: “Research and health facilities will bring education and employment opportunities, which will be a significant benefit to the area.
“Additional housing will also sustain local services within the area, such as convenience stores, garages, restaurants and leisure centres, and support further sustainable growth.
“A central project objective of economically viable not economically driven puts principles over profit, which will benefit the local community.
“The development of the site over a number of years during construction will feed into the local employment and skills market, as well as benefiting local business in the short to medium term by providing increased trade to local businesses.”
The existing CAV buildings would not be torn down to make way for the regeneration project, unlike the remainder of the site.
As well as former hospital facilities, the land also houses a temporary NHS building used for eye surgery, a Covid-19 testing site, and car parks.
The General Hospital was originally built as the infirmary of the Newcastle Union Workhouse, opening in 1870. In 1948, it was renamed Newcastle General Hospital when it became part of the NHS.
It remained the city’s main hospital for most of the second half of the 20th century, but most acute services were moved to the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Freeman Hospital between 2008 and 2010.
