'Gargantuan' student housing tower approved

A 21-storey tower providing accommodation for students has been approved despite concerns over its size.

The scheme, which narrowly passed Newcastle City Council's planning committee on Friday, will stand on the site of the soon to be demolished Hadrian House office complex.

Residents had raised a number of concerns, including Suzanne Hydes who said the tower was "gargantuan", would "irrevocably alter" the cityscape and negatively impact surrounding listed buildings like the Laing Gallery.

But developers described the £60m scheme, including a second 14-storey tower, as a "generational opportunity" to kickstart the regeneration of the eastern gateway into the city centre

Sona Estates and Argon, who are behind the project, said it would provide 507 student bedrooms alongside a regenerated public space that would incorporate part of the Saville Place car park.

Hydes also expressed concerns about underground gas from old mining activity about 100 metres under the site.

Argon director Richard Wilks said a more detailed ground survey could only be carried out once Hadrian House had been demolished, but the foundations of the proposed building would only go 15 metres deep then hit bedrock.

He also said the development would effectively act as an extension of the Northumbria University campus and replace the hundreds of university-owned student bedrooms lost following closure of the Claude Gibb and Lovaine halls of residence.

Green councillor for Elswick Peter Thomson expressed frustration the development would not be part of a wider regeneration scheme to improve other run-down parts of the New Bridge Street area.

Fellow Green John Pearson called the proposal "disrespectful to its surroundings", while the committee chair and Liberal Democrat councillor Doreen Huddart called the existing Hadrian House an eyesore, but voted against the plans due to concerns that its replacement would be too tall.

However, the plans passed by four votes to three.

Liberal Democrat councillor and city mayor Henry Gallagher said: "It is currently an awful space and we saw clearly on the figures that we need more student accommodation.

"I think it is going to be an absolute improvement on what we have at the moment."

It is expected the demolition of Hadrian House would take around six months, with a two-and-a-half year construction period scheduled to start in October 2027.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a number of high-level walkways linked to the 1970s office block will also be demolished.

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