A public inquiry into the future of one of the last vacant plots of prime land on Newcastle’s Quayside closed on Monday.
Developers want to build a 14-storey apartment block on the disused Plot 12 site, but the controversial scheme has been met with heavy opposition from locals.
A 289-flat project for the empty land, at the eastern end of the Quayside, was rejected by Newcastle City Council last year before an appeal was lodged, meaning a government planning inspector will now make the final decision on whether it can go ahead.
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After seven days of hearings at Newcastle Civic Centre, inspector Claire Searson brought the inquiry to a close on Monday afternoon – though it will likely take several weeks, or even months, for her to issue a verdict.
More than 300 objections were lodged against the building plans, which had initially been recommended for approval by city planners before councillors on the local authority’s planning committee voted 11-1 to reject them 12 months ago.
The £40m scheme has been vehemently opposed by neighbouring St Ann’s Church and residents of the St Ann’s Quay building next door to it.
Louise Richley, who lives in the building and is a director of its management company, told the inquiry last week that the Plot 12 would create “daunting and forbidding” living conditions for its neighbours and “decimate” their views of both the church and the nearby Sailors’ Bethel.
The proposed building’s design has been branded “monolithic”, with developers Packaged Living and Robertson Property urged to rethink the project.
The council has argued that the 14-storey block is too big, would have a negative impact on local heritage assets, and that most of its future residents would be forced to live in apartments that do not comply with the city’s newly-adopted minimum space standards.
Barrister Anjoli Foster, who represented the council at the inquiry, said it was the “wrong development” for the site and would cause “a number of significant fundamental harms”.
Paul Tucker QC, representing the appellants, argued that Plot 12 has been “in obvious need of regeneration since it was cleared and remediated a quarter of a century ago”.
Harvey Emms, senior director of planning consultants Lichfields, also told the inspector last week that he did not consider the proposed Plot 12 development to be a tall building and that failing to approve the development risked leaving the land vacant for years to come.
It is claimed that the scheme could create more than 700 construction jobs and boost spending in the local economy by an estimated £4 million a year.
The inquiry ended on Monday afternoon without enough time for the various parties involved to make their closing arguments, which will have to be submitted in writing.
