Newcastle General Hospital regeneration to progress

Plans for a major regeneration scheme at the site of the former Newcastle General Hospital, including research and academic facilities, alongside NHS and health services, look set to move forward.Newcastle University is behind the masterplan, following its agreement to purchase the site in a £7.5m deal from Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2019.Outline plans for the mixed-use development, which will go before Newcastle City Council next week, seek approval to regenerate the 29-acre site which homes the Campus for Ageing and Vitality.The masterplan looks to create 15 separate development plots which will include residential institutions, residential dwellings, business and commercial uses, community and leisure amenities and small-scale retail.The plans hope to build on the success of the Newcastle Helix site, which is home to an increasing cluster of life science and related biotech companies. A design and access statement accompanying the application said that the university is developing the site to be a “world-leading example of intergenerational living, co-locating education, health and a spectrum of residential developments.”The former hospital, which used to reside at the site, was originally constructed as the infirmary for the Newcastle Union Workhouse and opened in 1870. It was a fully operational site until 2008, when most of the services at the hospital were moved to the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Freeman Hospital. Following a virtual site visit in November 2021, the application will go before members of Newcastle Planning Committee on Friday 25 February with the recommendation for approval.