Planning inspector green-lights controversial Whittam Cox scheme

Whittam Cox Architects-designed proposals for 289 homes next to the River Tyne in Newcastle have won approval at appeal, just over a year after being rejected by the city council.

The practice’s 14-storey plans for a vacant 0.72ha plot at East Quayside were opposed by planners for reasons including impact on the character of the local area, living space in the flats, and the proposals’ impact on residents of the nearby St Ann’s Quay development.

More than 300 letters of objection were submitted after the proposals were lodged on behalf of developers Packaged Living and Robertson Property for the development of the Homes England site in 2020.

规划检查员Claire Searson推翻了纽卡斯尔市议会对“从建造到出租”方案的否决，他承认，该场地“具有挑战性”，惠特姆考克斯的设计“将使其在纽卡斯尔城市景观和码头沿线的关键景观中闻名”。

She also stated that aspects of the architectural design treatments “would fall slightly short”, but said “the design design cannot be said to be poor quality, or even close to that”. Searson said many of the clear design expectations of the masterplan and planning brief covering the site had been met.

The inspector accepted that the scheme had “limited policy conflict” in design terms and that she had identified some “lower end of less than substantial harm” to the setting of the grade-I-listed St Ann’s Church, which is nearby. Searson also referenced a policy breach in relation to space standards, but said the proposals were acceptable for future residents despite that.

Additionally, she accepted a policy conflict in terms of light loss for residents of St Ann’s Quay, however she said the balance still fell in favour of the Whittam Cox scheme.

On the plus, side Searson said the scheme would have a positive economic impact on the area and be attractive to young professionals and key workers, providing extra housing choice in an area where build-to-rent schemes were “not commonplace”.

!Is the architecture exceptional?” the inspector asked in conclusion. “My answer is ‘no’. But, in design terms the policy conflict is limited, the development does have positive design attributes and has sought to balance a number of competing site constraints.

“它带来的好处是显著的，最重要的是，我发现，很大一部分原因应该归功于这一事实，即开发是公共所有的，有充分的资金和可交付的，在一个30多年来从未实现的场地的背景下，有重大的修复需求和可行性问题。”

A Newcastle City Council spokespeson said the authority was “very disappointed” with the decsion and was considering its options.