Newcastle house building 'relentless assault' on green space
Plans to build 900 homes are part of a "relentless assault" on green space, campaigners have complained.
Developer Banks Property wants to build houses to the north west of Newcastle, next to a 4,500-home estate. Wildlife campaigners and councillors have said the area's roads, schools and other infrastructure were already stretched to breaking point. Banks said infrastructure improvements were "absolutely at the heart of this project". Rachel Locke, of campaign group Save Newcastle Wildlife, said the development would see "yet more fields paved over, with hedgerows and trees lost in what seems like a relentless assault on green open space to the north of the city". "The council is already failing to plan for parks and open spaces for new communities," she said. "Shoehorning in more houses above and beyond what is allocated in the development plan will exacerbate the problem." Newcastle City Council said a consultation process would be carried out and "all views will be taken into account in the decision-making process". Liberal Democrat opposition leader and councillor for the area Anita Lower said local services were "already stretched to maximum capacity". "I have huge concerns about all of the developments going on in the area, not just this one," she said. There have been repeated complaints over traffic and a lack of amenities on the existing Great Park, being built by Persimmon Homes, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Banks Property wants to create a new "Kingston Village" community to the west of nearby Brunton Lane and said upgrades to this road would "make it far safer and more usable for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike". There would be new footpaths, cycle ways, improved public transport, a new primary school and shops, a spokeswoman claimed.