Student flats will restrict grazing, critics say

The cows on Newcastle's Town Moor are a popular feature, campaigners say

The redevelopment of a large student campus could prevent cows grazing on a section of a city's fields, critics have claimed.

Newcastle University's Castle Leazes Halls were recently knocked down to make way for a new block, which will include a fenced footpath across a section of the Town Moor.

Local resident Richard Temperley said the fenced-off area on Leazes Moor risked becoming "scrubland" if the cattle could not graze there.

The Freemen of Newcastle said they would still tend to the fenced off area and the barrier was needed to prevent people interacting with the cattle.

Mr Temperley, who lived in Castle Leazes while he was a student, said the cows were "very special" for a lot of people in Newcastle.

"They are a bit like the canals and the gondolas in Venice, they are distinctive but they are also a bit impractical as well," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The new student halls will house more than 2,000 students

Joyce Gregson, 83, described the development as "absolutely obscene".

"Why do they want to do it? How will it benefit anybody?" she said.

"We already have an existing path going across the moor the students use."

The new Castle Leazes Development will contain 2,009 bedrooms, almost 600 more than the previous halls.

The Freemen of Newcastle, who care for the Town Moor, said they had been concerned the larger campus would lead to more people interacting with grazing cattle and the fenced-off path was "the only viable option".

"The Freemen will continue to maintain all of Castle Leazes Moor, including the fenced-off area," a spokesman said.

Newcastle University and accommodation firm Unite Students said a public consultation had been used to understand the "potential impacts of the redevelopment" and how they could be minimised.

They said the path had been designed to improve accessibility to the main university campus for all users.

Newcastle City Council said the path and its fencing would not stop the land being used as "open green space".