A FLAGSHIP housing scheme devised by Red or Dead fashion label founder Wayne Hemingway can go ahead after the Government declined to intervene.

Mr Hemingway, who runs Hemingway Design with his wife Geraldine, teamed up with Wimpey Homes to draft plans for 688 houses and flats on part of the 1990 Garden Festival site, beside the River Tyne in Gateshead.

Aimed at offering an alternative to modern estates with identical homes, the plans for the Staiths South Bank development include ten different house styles with unusual layouts such as upstairs lounges and loft living areas.

The development also contains parks with facilities for all ages. There is limited access for cars to make the area safer and more environmentally friendly.

Mr Hemingway drew on many of the ideas behind his own house, called Home, which has featured on television programmes and in several newspapers.

One of his key objectives was keeping the cost of homes low to make them accessible to the average person, with the cheapest expected to be about £60,000.

Earlier this year, Gateshead Borough Council, which has supported the scheme throughout, approved the plans but referred them to the Government in case it wanted to call them in for further review.

Now the Government has decided that it is not necessary, removing the final obstacle that had prevented work from starting