The Freight Depot Site is regarded as one of the most significant sites in Gateshead that is to be comprehensively redeveloped for housing. Its location and size means that it is of strategic importance in terms of local housing market renewal and realising the economic potential of the area. As a major gateway into Gateshead Centre and the wider conurbation, it is also viewed at a neighbourhood level as a catalyst and vital element of the regeneration of a community which for many years has been in decline.
The Council aspiration for this site is high: to produce an exemplar housing scheme which responds to this unique location and topography, that meets the housing needs of existing residents of the borough, whilst realising the opportunity of servicing the needs of a new population attracted by new jobs created close by. The development will provide a landmark of quality on this main corridor and gateway to the Town Centre, and also act as a gateway and a destination as a place to live for the developing Baltic Business Quarter and the expected 7,000 jobs to be created.
The Freight Depot site is allocated for housing within the Gateshead Unitary Development Plan (UDP) as site H3.12. A planning brief for the site was adopted in June 2007.