Network Rail confirms 600 Forth Yards homes
The government agency is looking to submit plans for its 12-acre patch within Newcastle’s wider 52-acre regeneration site this October, in partnership with developer Bloc.
Network Rail and Bloc have formed joint venture Blocwork, and is working alongside Newcastle City Council and Homes England to develop its Forth Goods Yard site into a gateway to the wider Forth Yards area.
As well as 600 apartments, plans for this parcel of land will include a multi-storey car park to serve the station, a New York-style High Line along an unused viaduct, and public realm, all of which will open up and integrate Forth Yards with the station and the city centre.
The news follows the announcement of £121m of public funding into the neighbouring Quayside West site, which is owned by Homes England and forms a large chunk of the 52-acre regeneration scheme to the west of Newcastle city centre.
The Forth Yards brownfield site will eventually accommodate up to 2,500 homes, public realm, and around 160,000 sq ft of commercial space, with Quayside West accounting for around 1,100 of those homes.
FaulknerBrowns has been the leading architect on the masterplan for the overall scheme, and architect firm 5plus has led on Blocwork’s section of the major regeneration project.
Speaking to Place North East at the Forth Yards site today,David Chubb, development manager at Network Rail said: “The investment here is something that we’ve been keen to see because it will open up an area for regeneration – and also from the perspective of the station, ultimately we’ll create a new station that’s fit for the future.
“We’re looking to submit a planning application in October. We’re going for both housing and another multi-storey car park, which will complement this whole development. The package combined with our planning application will be really significant for this whole area.
“We’re looking at 600 [homes], so that will be apartments. Again, it will be on the site, close to the station. We’re looking at creating public realm and links from the station through to this site as well.
“We have a development agreement with [Blocwork], and we’re bringing forward that development with them.
“We have some 161 sites across the whole of the country, which we’re looking to bring forward. This is strategically one of our most important sites, because of the size and the impact. Newcastle is a priority for us.”
