Councillors have given their approval to plans to make major improvements to hundreds of homes in Bensham and Saltwell.
At their meeting today, members of Gateshead Council’s Planning and Development Committee gave planning permission for a series of major improvements effecting more than 190 homes in the Bensham and Saltwell area.
The improvements include new boundary walls with stone copings, metal railings and gates - reinstating what had originally been removed at the start of the Second World War. The work will be carried out to homes Watt Street, Telford Street, Hedley Street, Stephenson Street, Newton Street, two blocks in Saltwell Road and one block in Whitehall Road.
Properties will also have improvements to their existing windows and doors, including the restoration of stone mullions to some properties, as well as repairs to paths and steps.
Planning permission was also given for similar improvements to a further 129 homes in Westbourne Avenue and Windsor Avenue which will once again reinstate a pre-Second World War street scene.
The improvements are being carried out as part of a wider regeneration of the Bensham and Saltwell area which is seeing substantial new investment in existing properties, new housing, environmental improvements and better services.
The work will be carried out as a Block Improvement Scheme, enabling work to be carried out to a number of properties in the same street by one contractor as a single contract. This has already proved to be an efficient and cost-effective way to carry out improvements - the work had originally been scheduled for 2010 but major cost savings achieved as a result of the Block Improvement Scheme have allowed Gateshead Council to quicken the pace of the programme.
The improvements, which are being jointly funded by Gateshead Council and Bridging NewcastleGateshead, the government’s Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder, requires homeowners and landlords to fund only 20% of the cost of the work. To qualify for this grant aid, private landlords may also be required to carry out additional improvements works to their properties to bring them up to a higher standard and to demonstrate that they are managing their property and tenancy properly
Councillor David Napier, Cabinet spokesman for Housing, says: “Local residents played a crucial part in devising a Neighbourhood Plan for Bensham and Saltwell, and this identified a large number of fairly simple improvements we could make to radically improve the area.
“The planning permission which has been granted today is another major step in our six-year project to make those improvements.
“The work will not only improve the appearance of these homes, it will improve the appearance of the whole street and, we hope, will put a bit of pride back into the area. That’s good news for everyone.”