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National planning award for Tyne development

The Rise at Scotswood, in the west of Newcastle, has won an Excellence in Planning Award from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

The £265 million development on the banks of the River Tyne carried off the prize for planning to deliver housing at the event, staged at the Pullman, London St. Pancras.

Earlier this year The Rise won the Residential category at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) North East Renaissance Awards and was shortlisted in the Regeneration section.

The development is the product of a public/private joint venture – the New Tyne West Development Company (NTWDC) – comprising Newcastle City Council and developers Barratt Homes and Keepmoat. The architect and town planning consultant is the ID Partnership’s Newcastle practice.

The largest single site, housing led regeneration project in the north of England, The Rise will eventually become a diverse, sustainable community of around 6,000 people living in approximately 1,800 well designed, modern, energy efficient homes – supplied by a district heating centre.

So far 120 of the 160 homes released for sale have been bought – around 80% to people living within ten miles - almost two thirds of whom (64%) are 30 or under. Buyers cited design, value for money and location as the main reasons for purchasing.

The development is being integrated into the existing community through the enhancement of existing public spaces, the creation of new ones, an improved road network and the development of new retail and community facilities.

Lee McGray, Development Director with NTWDC said: “This is fantastic news. To win a national award from such a respected professional body shows the level of care which was taken in the planning of this project. This is now being reflected in the quality of the development which we are creating here.

“It has already proved extremely popular with local buyers and won praise from the existing community, which has been involved and supportive throughout the project.”

The RTPI represents 23,000 planning professionals worldwide and promotes spatial planning, shapes policy and raises professional standards. The Awards for Planning Excellence have been run for over 30 years to recognise planning excellence.

Richard Newsome, Chair of RTPI North East region said: “Planners across the region are working hard, every day to deliver great places for people to work and live.”

Roisin Willmott, RTPI Awards Advisor, added: “The transformational effect of the project on this area has been impressive. The judges found the design to be an excellent response to a very difficult site, topographically and economically. They especially liked the way the community was involved which built strong local support.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .