Newcastle transformation plan backed by council

The plot currently home to the Utilita Arena may remain as a leisure site once the area is redeveloped, the council says

Plans to transform the west of Newcastle with thousands of new homes have been backed by the city's council.

Up to 2,500 properties could be built at Forth Yards on the outskirts of the city centre while 40,000 sq m (9.9 acres) of land has been earmarked for business use.

The area includes land occupied by the Utilita Arena, Newcastle Heliport and the old Calder Leadworks.

Plans for a 1,200-home "urban village" have already been lodged by developers.

The local authority's cabinet voted in favour of the plans at a meeting on Monday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A 550-space multi-storey car park is set to be built at the Forth Goods Yard behind the city's Central Station, but the future of the arena plot remains in question.

A new £260m venue at Gateshead Quays is expected to act as the arena's replacement, but the council's documents state the current site is expected to remain as some form of leisure venue and that "no alternative development scenarios have been tested".

The authority has also outlined transport upgrades that would be needed in an area that is currently difficult to access, with better pedestrian and cycling routes planned alongside new and wider roads.

Under the proposals, the old Newcastle-Carlisle rail line would be protected from development so that it could potentially be used to extend the Tyne and Wear Metro into the West End of the city.

Ged Bell, the council's cabinet member for employment and culture, said: "It means we can develop this with not only a high quality of housing but a high quality of business, the area will be a pleasant place to live and work in."