Member Article

High quality homes for Percy Hedley

A new residential development project is being proposed by Karbon Homes and The Percy Hedley Foundation.

The site in the heart of Forest Hall, North Tyneside, has been acquired by Karbon, with a view to developing new independent supported living homes for current residents in Percy Hedley Foundation accommodation

The Percy Hedley Foundation provides a wide range of high quality, specialist and personalised care and education support to disabled people and their families. This includes disabled people with cerebral palsy, communication impairments, sensory impairments and complex learning, social care and therapeutic needs. The land on Clydedale Avenue was for many years home to The Fusilier public house, but now Karbon has demolished the empty pub building, and has been working on proposals to build 32 apartments and parking provision on the site, which includes the former pub car park and a small field to the west of the demolished building.

Karbon has previously worked with the Percy Hedley Foundation to hold a consultation event for local residents in October last year, and now the community will have another, more formal opportunity through the planning process, to examine the proposals and put forward their views.

Karbon’s development team has been consulting with planning officers to consider the impact of any development, including access to local schools, and parking in the area.

Karbon’s development team is committed to working with stakeholders in the Forest Hall community to manage the construction process in the local area. The new apartments, designed by BSBA Architects in Darlington, form part of Karbon Homes’ regionwide development programme which aims to build up to 500 homes a year across the North East region. Karbon’s plans are being supported by Homes England with grant funding of nearly £2m. Zoey Hawthorne, assistant director of development delivery for Karbon Homes, said: “We’re excited to be working with the Percy Hedley Foundation on this new redevelopment scheme. We have now put our plans forward for the local authority to consider in detail, and we look forward to taking this important project forward.”

Marie Watts, Director of Residential and Adult Services from The Percy Hedley Foundation, said: “We have been working closely with Karbon over the last year to ensure that this development can help meet the needs of the people we support, and enables our community to continue building their independence within a familiar and supportive environment at Forest Hall.”

Karen Anderson from Homes England said “I am really looking forward to starting this high quality scheme on site – it is going to make such a difference to people with special support needs to live as independently as possible in a great location. This is a fantastic example of how Homes England works with ambitious providers and local authorities to meet local needs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graeme King .