Newcastle Uni's £274m Castle Leazes halls set for approval
A £274m redevelopment of a student accommodation site is set to be approved on Friday, despite objections.Two accommodation blocks with more than 2,000 bedrooms will replace Newcastle University's Castle Leazes halls of residence, which is being demolished.The university said the new buildings would help deal with an "immediate and pressing shortage" of student beds.The plans are recommended for approval, but there have been concerns from locals over anti-social behaviour and a strain on services.
Castle Leazes, which was built in the 1960s, was put forward for demolition after it was deemed outdated.The replacement complex would be built around five courtyards with the housing blocks ranging between four and nine storeys in height.There will also be a gym, a café, a cinema room, and study space.
Opponents of the plans have claimed the development could "overwhelm" nearby listed buildings and place "undue pressure on local infrastructure and services".One objection submitted to the council on behalf of 73 neighbours called the proposals a "significant overdevelopment" that is "entirely out of character" with the rest of the area.It added: "We support the principle of redevelopment but not at any cost. "What has been proposed is a poorly managed, overbearing scheme that threatens to erase the character, culture, and community of one of Newcastle's most historic neighbourhoods."Increasing the size of the Castle Leazes halls from the previous 1,247 bedrooms to 2,009 has also sparked concerns about the potential for anti-social behaviour and parking problems, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.However, the university's planning application argued that increasing the size of the halls would help relieve pressure on areas like Jesmond and Sandyford.Council planners added there was "evident demand" for the larger residence and said the new housing would "sit comfortably within its surroundings".According to a report, the development would also provide "significant" economic benefits and it was "not considered that there would be an adverse impact on the amenity of nearby residents".
Follow BBC Newcastle on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Fresh ageism row for the BBC after four axed senior journalists lodge discrimination claims
FOUR senior journalists have lodged complaints with the BBC in a fresh ageism row. Their separate — but coordinated — discrimination claims come as the broadcaster merges its home and foreign newsdesks. 2 Bosses hope slashing 130 jobs will help save £700million. But the four, said to have worked in warzones and the aftermath of terror attacks, fear they have been earmarked for compulsory redundancy. Their move follows a group of BBC News presenters going to an employment tribunal over ageism allegations. Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera, and Annita McVeigh settled their three-year dispute in March, with the terms not disclosed. The latest cases involve employees aged over 50 and thought to have more than 100 years of experience between them. Sources said they believe the process of applying for the new jobs concentrates only on their work over the past two years — and so is weighted towards younger candidates. Marks were also said to be deducted if applicants failed to mention keywords such as 'digital' or 'live page'. It is reported one of the individuals is a representative of the National Union of Journalists, which has hit out at the compulsory redundancies. Last night, the BBC said: 'Restructuring in BBC News is taking place according to established BBC policies. 'We conduct all processes in a thorough and fair manner, and we are committed to supporting our staff throughout, including through comprehensive redeployment assistance.' 2
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Rachel Reeves 'a gnat's whisker' from having to raise taxes, says IFS
Rachel Reeves is a "gnat's whisker" away from having to raise taxes in the autumn budget, a leading economist has warned - despite the chancellor insisting her plans are "fully funded". Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said "any move in the wrong direction" for the economy before the next fiscal event would "almost certainly spark more tax rises". Speaking the morning after she delivered her spending review, which sets government budgets until 2029, Ms Reeves told Wilfred Frost hiking taxes wasn't inevitable. "Everything I set out yesterday was fully costed and fully funded," she told Sky News Breakfast. Her plans - which include £29bn for day-to-day NHS spending, £39bn for affordable and social housing, and boosts for defence and transport - are based on what she set out in October's budget. That budget, her first as chancellor, included controversial tax hikes on employers and increased borrowing to help public services. 3:43 Chancellor won't rule out tax rises The Labour government has long vowed not to raise taxes on "working people" - specifically income tax, national insurance for employees, and VAT. Ms Reeves refused to completely rule out tax rises in her next budget, saying the world is "very uncertain". The Conservatives have claimed she will almost certainly have to put taxes up, with shadow chancellor Mel Stride accusing her of mismanaging the economy. Taxes on businesses had "destroyed growth" and increased spending had been "inflationary", he told Sky News. New official figures showed the economy contracted in April by 0.3% - more than expected. It coincided with Donald Trump imposing tariffs across the world. Ms Reeves admitted the figures were "disappointing" but pointed to more positive figures from previous months. 7:57 'Sting in the tail' She is hoping Labour's plans will provide more jobs and boost growth, with major infrastructure projects "spread" across the country - from the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk, to a rail line connecting Liverpool and Manchester. But the IFS said further contractions in the economy, and poor forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, would likely require the chancellor to increase the national tax take once again. It said her spending review already accounted for a 5% rise in council tax to help local authorities, labelling it a "sting in the tail" after she told Sky's Beth Rigby that it wouldn't have to go up.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN DAISLEY: With 'business friends' like the SNP, who needs liquidators?
Here's a brainteaser for you. What do you have to add to £1.7 billion to get £600 million? The answer is the SNP. According to independent analysis from the Scottish Fiscal Commission, Scotland's higher income tax rates ought to pull in an extra £1.7 billion a year in revenue. Unfortunately, Holyrood's coffers are only bringing in around one third of that, in a phenomenon the commission calls 'economic performance gap' and I call 'Shona Robison'. Russell Findlay was very exercised about the matter at First Minister's Questions. John Swinney, on the other hand, was less worked up. 'The important point to consider,' the FM said, was that higher taxes meant more money to spend on public services. There is no tell like: 'The important point to consider…' It invariably means: 'This subject is politically awkward for me, and it'd be jolly good of you to move on.' Let's talk about all the dosh raised rather than the dubious efficacy with which it's spent. Swinney preferred to think of it as 'differences in policy outcomes' as a result of 'people on higher incomes paying slightly more in taxation'. The outcomes are different, all right. Findlay brushed this aside as 'more smoke and mirrors' and noted that 'economic performance gap' had cost Scotland £5.4 billion over the last decade. Thank goodness this isn't a government that constantly complains about a lack of funding, otherwise this would be embarrassing. Swinney boasted that 'we take a number of steps to invest in the economy', which would be fair enough if they didn't keep taking the same steps over and over. The Ferguson Marine yard can attest to ministers' flushness with the cash, the islanders not so much. The FM boasted that his was a 'business-friendly SNP government'. With business friends like this, who needs liquidators? Findlay couldn't stifle a titter, and who could blame him with material like this? 'I will try to stop laughing for a minute,' he chuckled, before accusing the Nationalists of 'throwing all the money away'. Miffed that Findlay had alluded to the cost of welfare spending, Swinney growled: 'What benefits would he cut?' For good measure, he charged Findlay with wanting to 'consign more children to poverty'. I knew it was a bad idea for Findlay to unveil his Reopening the Workhouses (Scotland) Bill before thinking it through properly. The Tory leader remarked that he wanted people out of poverty, which is why he didn't want them dependent on benefits. Swinney replied: 'This government will do what it always does.' Blame it all on Westminster? Anas Sarwar, his new Hamilton MSP Davy Russell perched proudly behind him, raised the plight of workers at Alexander Dennis, the Scottish bus manufacturer which is relocating south of the border, with job losses on the cards. Sarwar snarled: 'The Scottish Government is procuring more buses from China than it is from Scotland. The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has bought almost four times as many buses from Alexander Dennis.' Things have come to a pretty pass when Labour is doing business with capitalists and the SNP is taking its custom to the Chinese Communist Party. No wonder capitalism remains stubbornly un-overthrown. The award for the most heroic attempt to crowbar independence into an entirely unrelated question must go to Lorna Slater. She got to her feet to press the FM to roll out free school meals across more local authorities but, some-where along the way, she segued into a spot of separatist sabre-rattling. 'Now is the time to demand that Keir Starmer set out exactly what conditions he believes need to be met to trigger an independence referendum for Scot-land, so that we can get out of this unequal union,' she demanded. The Prime Minister should have some fun with these conditions. Brechin City beats Celtic on penalties to win the treble. A leap-year blood moon when Mars is in retrograde and the Wurzels are back in the charts. The Scottish Greens take a collective vow of silence and move to Micronesia.
