The council granted outline planning permission for development on the Newcastle General Hospital site this morning. The plans, which include a giant Tesco store, were approved despite opposition from local residents.
Although this is a major blow to the West End of Newcastle, the campaign is not over. The developers still need to submit a detailed application for the Tesco store.
Planning officers from Newcastle City Council recommend approval of the controversial planning application for the Newcastle General Hospital site in a report published today.
The proposals, which include a giant 24 hour Tesco store, are to be discussed at the planning meeting on Friday 21 January. Members of the Stop Fenham Tesco campaign are surprised and disappointed by the report’s conclusions and urge the planning committee to reject the proposal at the meeting next week. Given that very similar proposals were rejected two years ago, local residents question why the proposals are recommended for approval this time. The supermarket is slightly smaller and the petrol station has gone, but otherwise the plans have changed very little.
The full agenda and reports for the meeting can be found on the council’s website:
The planning meeting next Friday is open to the public and anyone who is concerned about this development is encouraged to attend. It will be held at 9.30am on Friday 21 January in one of the committee rooms at the Civic Centre (ask at reception for directions).
It looks as if there may be two new Asda stores in the West End of Newcastle.
The Netto store in Mill Lane (just over the road from the General Hospital) is to become an Asda store, following Netto’s acquisition by Asda.
It also appears that the Somerfield store on Adelaide Terrace in Benwell, will also become an Asda store. Somerfield was taken over by the Co-op in March 2009, but it appears that they are selling this store to Asda, possibly due to competition concerns.
With these new stores opening is there really a need to build a new supermarket in the area, particularly with the new Morrisons in West Denton?
Controversial proposals for the Newcastle General Hospital site, including plans for a giant 24 hour Tesco store, are to be discussed at Newcastle City Council’s planning committee on Friday 21 January 2011.
The meeting will be held at 9.30am at the Civic Centre and is open to the public – we encourage anyone with an interest in the future of the site to attend. It is possible to apply to speak at the meeting by contacting the council (please get in touch with us if you are planning to do this).
Development plans for the Newcastle General Hospital site are on the agenda of the next Wingrove Ward Committee meeting. The plans, which include a proposed giant 24 hour Tesco store, will be discussed at the meeting to be held at 7.15pm on Tuesday 19 October at the Robert Stewart Memorial United Reformed Church, 89 Wingrove Road. Campaign members are encouraged to attend.
Council Planning Officer, Scott Henderson, has prepared a briefing note for the meeting. In the briefing he states that there the council have received 147 formal letters of objection (plus 1180 petition signatures) and 28 letters of support (plus 716 petition signatures). He says that the plans may go to a Development Control Meeting in November or December this year. This is the meeting where councillors will formally approve or reject the application.
The council is still accepting comments on the proposals, so if you haven’t done so already it is not too late to object. You can do so on the council’s website at the following address – click on “Make a comment”:
Scott Henderson can be contacted on 0191 211 5631 or scott.henderson@newcastle.gov.uk.
More information about the meeting, including the agenda and briefing note can be found on the council website:
Unfortunately, at the time of writing this page wasn’t displaying, so we have uploaded the briefing note here:
More than a thousand local residents have objected to plans for a giant Tesco superstore on the Newcastle General Hospital site.
Members of Stop Fenham Tesco handed over objection letters and a petition to the planning department of Newcastle City Council today. The number of people who objected to the proposal shows the strength of feeling among local residents, particularly as these objections were collected in just two weeks.
Local residents and members of the campaign urge the council to reject the planning application.
You can view the objections along with the planning application and associated documents on the council’s website (though it may take a few days for them to upload the documents submitted today):
If you haven’t done so already it is not too late to submit an objection. Follow the link above and click on “Make a comment”.
There’s only one day left to submit an objection to plans for a giant 24 hour Tesco on the site of Newcastle General Hospital. If you are concerned about the impact this development will have on the West End of Newcastle you need to submit an objection now.
The deadline for objections is Monday 2 August.
The easiest way to object is to leave a comment on the council website: Outline planning application – click on “Make a comment”.
Alternatively you can submit your comment in writing by post. For more details and a model objection letter go to: Take action
Members of Stop Fenham Tesco will be handing in objection letters and a petition to the council planning department on Monday 2 August at 12.30pm. This will get press coverage. Please come along and show the strength of feeling on this issue The more people who can come the more powerful the message. Please arrive at noon so that we are ready when the press arrive.
