Monday, December 31, 2007

A Letter to the Council ...

I have been digging around in my correspondence files for the letters which I wrote when I first became aware that the future of Battlefield Open Space may not be rosy.

My letter is given below.

Notes:

i) I intend to place the details of the 2002 development proposal for the former paint factory site as soon as I can locate the papers. In brief (and from memory) the essence was that the proposed 'business park' would require parking for cars. In a scheme which envisioned three 'alternatives' part of the Battlefield Open Space would be turned over to this purpose, the extent varying in every more increasing scale and accompanied by 'planning gain' in accordance to the proportion of the site going under tarmac.

ii) Newcastle City Council and the developers gave the site the title "Portland Road" in their proposals. Portland Road runs along the west side of the site. It is a busy through route connecting to the Central Motorway. A side road connects with the access road to the former Berger paint factory site (owned by successor company and international giant Akzo-Nobel [www.akzonobel.com/com/] who closed and demolished the factory and who wish to sell the site for re-development). The former paint factory site lies alongside Battlefield Open Space.

iii) "City Stadium" actually refers to the entire Battlefield Open Space rather than simply the visible running track – though any 'development' of this area would impact on everywhere else across the site, since it is centrally placed.

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