Inspector set to decide on £86m plan for homes

WARRING parties in dispute over a critical Newcastle development site have made their cases for the last time before an inspector decides the fate of a proposed £86.6m building plan.

- DANIEL HOLLAND

Newcastle City Council rejected proposals for up to 356 apartments to be built on the Newcastle City Heliport site, to the west of the Utilita Arena, last year.

But a planning inquiry has been held over the last month as landowner MB European Limited seeks to have that verdict overturned. The heliport site forms part of the wider Forth Yards regeneration area which the council has hailed as a “game changer” for the city, with hopes of building 2,500 new homes and possibly even a new footbridge across the Tyne.