Gateshead Council's Planning and Development Committee today approved planning permission subject to a legal agreement for a new Trinity Square development submitted by Spenhill, the regeneration subsidiary of Tesco.

This follows the two having reached an agreement earlier this year to develop Gateshead Town Centre.

The Spenhill scheme has been designed by 3DReid and promises to deliver a new town square, 45 retail units, offices, a student village with over 950 beds, town centre underground parking and a Tesco store as well as the potential for a hotel. The scheme will transform Trinity Square into a vibrant centre of which the people of Gateshead can be proud and want to visit.

Over 1,000 new jobs will be created by the development, including those in construction. The new Tesco store alone will offer 750 jobs of which 400 are new, and up to 400 jobs could be available in the new retail stores. The new Tesco will also be a regeneration partnership store, which focuses on the long-term unemployed, those seeking flexible local employment and school-leavers, who have the most to gain from the employment opportunities created.

-- Advertisement --

The 3.6 hectare development site includes the area formerly occupied by Gateshead’s 1960’s-built Trinity Square Shopping Centre and multi-storey car park, both of which were demolished this year, as well as the existing Tesco store and car park.

Leader of Gateshead Council, Mick Henry, said: "Gateshead Town Centre has been in need of regeneration for many years and we’ve considered carefully over recent years how we should go about delivering a town centre that will offer more than just retail –a town centre that will offer real employment opportunities and meet the expectations of people who live and work here. This also demonstrates the confidence of one of the UK’s most significant investors, which will hopefully trigger further development in the wider town centre well into the future.

"We are delighted to have taken such a giant step forwards with planning permission after careful but complicated negotiations during such a time of considerable economic change.

"As is normal with a planning application of this size and scale, this approval is still subject to a number of finer details that we hope will be completed in time for work to begin on site by Spring 2011."

In addition, the scheme promises to bring a range of sustainable features such as bird boxes, environmentally friendly brown and green roofs, tree planting, a combined heat and power plant, carbon reduction technology, rainwater harvesting and sustainable materials and the potential for an artificial nesting platform for peregrine falcons.

(CD/GK)