Plans have been submitted in the next step towards the transformation of a derelict riverside industrial site in South Tyneside into a bustling living, working and cultural quarter.
South Tyneside Council has applied for planning permission to carry out the civil engineering works needed at the former industrial site and disused docks at Holborn, South Shields.
If approved, the plans would see a new quay edge wall installed, the regrading of the site, decontamination of the ground and the raising of the former dry docks to overcome flooding issues.
Three of the docks would also be restored, preserving the area’s industrial heritage.
The site, which is currently split level, would also be remodelled to create a gentle slope from Commercial Road to the River Tyne, to make it more suitable for development.
Housebuilders Keepmoat and Cussins were appointed as development partners last year, to deliver around 350 high-quality family houses and apartments and the associated infrastructure, including a new riverside promenade.
The scheme, which builds on the considerable investment that has already gone into regenerating South Shields, has secured £9.4m from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for the delivery of a future phase of office accommodation.
A 4.5 hectare section of the 10.5 hectare site was awarded Enterprise Zone status after a successful bid supported by the Local Enterprise Partnership.
Most Read
If the Holborn project gets the go-ahead, it will neighbour the site where the landmark five-storey Glassworks office building is planned as part of the new living, working and cultural Harton Quay quarter linking to South Shields’ town centre.
The planning application comes a week after the council was awarded £3m from a Government recovery fund, to drive forward the creation of the landmark offices.
It was awarded the money from the Getting Building Fund to support the development, and was the latest to win funding from the fund, following a project for a new Shields Ferry landing site on the north bank of the Tyne, and town centre improvement packages in North Shields and Bedlington.
The office plans also still need approval, but if passed the Glassworks will provide 50,000 sq ft of Grade A office space and be one of the first near-net zero office buildings in the region.
Coun Tracey Dixon, Leader of South Tyneside Council, said: “If approved, these enabling works would prepare what has been a largely derelict area for many years for the transformation into a mixed use development that would deliver new homes and office space and create hundreds of new jobs.”