Development of Prospect House, Hexham Road
- On This Page
- Residents Concerns
- Related Documents
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At the Planning Control Committee held on 19 February 2010 it was recommended that planning permission be granted for the proposal subject to conditions.
Newcastle City Council Planning reference - 2009/0308/01/DET. A copy of Newcastle City Council's Published Report dated Feb 2010, which sets out these conditions, can be accessed via Prospect House - Published Report - Feb 2010.pdf
TRAG comments following PCC, (Planning Control Committee) meeting - posted 19 February
The various amendments over the months prior to the planning permission have, in the opinion of local residents, made the building development more acceptable. Residents lost the battle re the trees as the Council's officers took the decision that the oak and the most northern beech tree are beyond saving. Another tree is to be planted in place of the latter.
TRAGs reason for speaking at the meeting today was to ensure that the Committee members knew exactly what the issues were with regard to the new exit onto Hexham Road and the degree of illegal parking that causes so much obstruction. TRAG made the point that although the new exit was technically approvable the current situation, which has gone on for years, with neither the Police nor the CPE succeeding in resolving it, would certainly obstruct the visibility splays on a daily basis.
Following the meeting Throckley residents came home to see a U-call bus - all lights off - parked on the road blocking in vehicles parked in front of the Tattoo Parlour and Fish Inn, a large lorry parked blocking the entrance to Dunraven on the wrong side of the road, over pavement and yellow lines and other vehicles lining the opposite side to such an extent that the passing traffic could only flow one way at a time.
TRAG was gratified to get two Councillors' backing, there and then asking for the situation to be 'blitzed' and the officer responsible for this was urged to progress this with regular contact with residents to monitor it. Watch this space....... So we'll give that a little time to reach action before we reconsider going to the Local Authority Ombudsman re the issues the Council has failed to resolve.
Comments on previous Prospect House planning permission which was refused.
The application was to be presented to Development Control Committee on Friday (20 June 2008). However, it was recommended that planning permission be refused for the proposal. A copy of the Development Control Committee Report dated 20 June 2008 can be found on the related documents section. Local residents have given negative comments to Throckley Residents Action Group. Whilst some residents may consider the style of this build to be in keeping with the environment, issues were raised, which are detailed in the residents concerns section.
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Residents Concerns
- Concern regarding the over development of the site and the apparent insufficient car parking spaces.
- The 3 storey height of the flats to the rear will have an impact on the surrounding properties.
- Concern about the impact on the trees within this site, three of which are protected by TPO’s and, as can be seen from the aerial photo, will have to have their canopies severely cut-back to enable the new block to be built, with probable root damage from foundation excavation likely to cause stability problems. The large tree at the front of the site will also have to be removed completely to create the road access.
- Proposal appears to require the removal of the allotments (in use) to the rear of Prospect House for the creation of only 11 car parking spaces.
- The increase in traffic flow particularly in a location so close to a Zebra Crossing.
- With regard to design, the existing building appears to be designed in a sympathetic way, using similar materials, Prospect House dates back to 1895, is all of the new build in matching materials?
- Has a woodlands survey been carried out?
- The ‘perspective view’ supplied does not seem particularly accurate, Prospect House is 2.5 storey with the top floor in the roof, the new addition to the rear, is fully 3 storey without using the roof-space, however in the sketch, it appears that the new extension has a much lower roofline than the existing. Perspective views do reduce into the distance, but this one shrinks rather rapidly, not really showing the impact on adjacent property.
- With regard to “raising the profile of Throckley Village”, concerned that the new frontage to the site consists of 12 Wheelie Bins?
- This scheme will only have to comply with current building regulations energy efficiency, where the Code for Sustainable Homes is now mandatory at only ‘level 1’, the Henderson Water Treatment Works land was put on the market by Northumbrian Water (NWL) at ‘Code Level 3’ and ESH Group have been investigating how to reach ‘Level 4’, which is also the standard that has been volunteered by Newcastle City Council (NCC) on their own land that they are currently selling for housing development.
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Related Documents
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