The Gateshead Council Planning and Development Committee is scheduled to meet on 28 January 2026 to consider planning applications and updates on several major building projects across the borough. The public meeting will be held at 6:00 pm in the Council Chamber at Gateshead Civic Centre, Regent Street, Gateshead (NE8 1HH), where councillors will review how new developments align with the town’s long-term growth plans.
This meeting is one of the first major sessions to assess applications against the new Gateshead Plan 2025–2045 (part of a joint local plan with Newcastle City Council launched in February 2025), which introduces updated housing growth targets and stricter biodiversity net-gain requirements. The updated plan is intended to ensure new housing and commercial projects meet the needs of the community over the coming two decades.
Residents are likely to seek updates on the £350m Sage Arena and International Conference Centre (Quayside), a large scheme that has gone through repeated timeline changes and mounting cost scrutiny. Councillors will also hear updates on the former Freight Depot site on St James Road, a long-vacant site approved for 270 homes where remediation and construction work has resumed as part of the wider Southern Gateway regeneration.
The session also coincides with the scheduled start of a new social housing programme intended to increase council-owned properties across the borough. These projects form part of a broader strategy to regenerate the town centre and improve local facilities for Gateshead residents.
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