Big plans for 125 homes in Beacon Lough, Gateshead

The proposed development would transform a long-cleared site into a mix of modern housing, including a significant portion of affordable homes—part of a wider push to reshape the area’s housing landscape.

Gateshead Council’s planning and development committee has been recommended to approve plans for 125 new homes on vacant land on Harebell Road, in Beacon Lough.

The proposals call for a mix of one, two, three and four bedroom homes ranging from detached maisonette flats to fully detached homes. 

Some 34 of the prospective properties have been earmarked for affordable housing, making up 27 per cent of the whole development. The plans form part of a collaboration involving Gateshead Council, housebuilder Vistry and affordable housing provider Home Group. 

The local authority’s own report on the proposals states: “The scheme would also generate economic benefits through the construction and operational phases, including employment during the build period, increased household expenditure in the local economy, and additional council tax revenue.” 

The Gateshead Regeneration Partnership is also responsible for the recently approved scheme for 106 homes, classed as entirely affordable, in Elisabethville, Birtley. Both projects form part of a wider plan for a total of 440 new homes across Gateshead. 

The Harebell Road site is classed as brownfield and was originally part of the Beacon Lough estate, which was constructed in the 1960s, and the surrounding housing on Balmshaw and Harebell Road are what remains of that development. The site was cleared of housing in the early 2000s.

The council’s planning committee will meet on Wednesday, April 29, at 6pm in Gateshead Civic Centre to hear the application.