Ouseburn flats plan rejected by Newcastle City Council

The development would have been four blocks up to six storeys tall

Councillors have rejected a plan for a new apartment development on Tyneside.

A proposal to build 57 flats in Newcastle's Ouseburn Valley area was rejected despite the authority's officers having recommended it be approved.

The crescent-shaped complex would have stood between four and six storeys tall.

Councillors expressed concerns over a lack of affordable housing within the scheme and potential parking issues.

Questions were also raised over its viability, with the meeting being told the developer, Property @Lime St, would have been expected to make a £3.7m loss at current market rates.

The land, which is occupied by a disused pigeon cree and warehousing, is up for sale with a £1.75m asking price.

Sixteen public objections had been lodged against the plans with nearby residents complaining the block would be "overbearing" and "dwarf" their homes.

'Unaffordable to local people'

Council planners had been complimentary of the design, saying it avoided being "monolithic" and would not be harmful to people living in the neighbouring Lime Square.

However, Labour councillor and cabinet member Paula Maines said: "The fact that there is no affordable housing is just awful.

"The last development we had in the Ouseburn, towards the Ship [pub], was absolutely unaffordable to local people. They are so expensive it is unreal.

"I think these will be the same. They can also attract Airbnb and party houses, which is a huge problem in the Ouseburn."

'Doesn't feel right'

Councillor Marion Williams, a fellow Labour cabinet member, said the development "doesn't feel right for the Ouseburn", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She led moves to have the plans rejected on grounds the building's size would be harmful to the Ouseburn Valley conservation area and that some of the flats would not have adequate levels of sunlight.

Seven of the committee's nine members backed the refusal of the scheme, with one abstention, and chair Teresa Cairns the solitary voice in support of the development.

Property @Lime St's directors are behind the Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park and By The River Brew Co. in Gateshead.

In their application, they said they wanted to make "a positive contribution to the ongoing sustainable regeneration of the Ouseburn Valley".