Newcastle Quayside: New court appeal bid over Plot 12 apartments plan

The development attracted hundreds of objections when it was proposed last year

Developers behind plans for new apartments on the Newcastle Quayside have gone to the Court of Appeal in the latest bid to get the project built.

Last month, a judge quashed a planning inspector's decision to allow the development to go ahead on Plot 12.

The inspector had overruled the city council's refusal for permission after a public inquiry in March.

Packaged Living and Robertson Property want to build 289 flats but the design has been called "monolithic".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said members of Newcastle City Council's planning committee were told on Tuesday the court will consider whether or not to allow an appeal hearing to go ahead, with no timescale set for a decision.

Plans for the development were initially rejected by Newcastle City Council in a vote in 2021

If the appeal is unsuccessful, the developers could either go through a second public inquiry on the plans, redesign the scheme and submit a new planning application, or abandon the £40m project altogether.

The council first rejected the plans for the complex in 2021, with councillors voting against civic centre officers' recommendation to approve it at the time.

It was later granted on appeal following a public inquiry held in March, before the High Court determined last month that inspector Claire Searson made a legal error.

Developers say the site is the last section of the original Quayside masterplan yet to be developed

Critics have said that the development would "devastate living conditions" for residents of the St Ann's Quay building next door and "decimate" views to and from the church.

The developers have argued it would boost Newcastle's economy and regenerate a plot of land which has laid vacant for decades.

Mr Justice Holgate upheld the council's High Court challenge on the grounds that Mrs Searson did not pay sufficient attention to the harm that would be caused to the Grade I listed church.