Residents Concerns

Henderson Water Treatment Works proposed re-development

Following verbal concerns raised to TRAG members, TRAG have circulated a questionnaire to local residents asking for comments regarding the proposed development. The following comments, in no particular order, have been received. If you would like to make your views know, please complete the questionnaire, which can be found on this page and return this to a member of TRAG as soon as possible. Thank you.

• The style of the houses is not in keeping with the area
• The height of the flats means there is potential for an overbearing impact on the houses opposite and alongside
• The buttresses should be removed and the houses built at ground level
• The access is narrow, there is no provision for a footpath
• From the artists impression, it appears that the design is targeted to young families and young professionals, being fashion critical, would they chose to buy a home built on top of an existing water treatment works?
• Concern over the suggestion that the site is contaminated due to the chemicals used in the water treatment process
• With a build of circa 75 homes, presuming 2 cars per family, there is a potential for 150 cars to be using only one entrance, this access needs to be safe for pedestrians and cars
• Concern over the devaluation of properties opposite the site
• Has a noise and air quality assessment been undertaken?
• There is little open space and little room for parking, the houses are too crowded
• Will the trees be protected, on the artists impression there are more trees, and how will these be planted as the buttresses are solid concrete?
• Has a flood risk assessment been undertaken?
• In the mixed community of housing who will manage the social housing?
• What percentage of homes are affordable and how much will they cost?
• Would prefer the style of North Court Farm – at least the built will fit into existing recently built houses
• Who are these houses aimed at, who is the target buyers?
• In view of the credit crunch – will these houses be sold
• Will these houses be sold to landlords and will ‘for sale’ and ‘to let’ signs dominate the area
• Would the builders and designers want to live in one of these houses
• Builders shouldn’t push through an inappropriate build under an eco-friendly umbrella
• Contemporary build is not what Throckley needs
• No flats in Throckley are over 3 stories, including underground garage space
• The buttresses should be lowered, landscaped and terraced

Prospect House development

• 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.