Bridging Newcastle Gateshead

Bridging NewcastleGateshead is a strategic, public private partnership of Newcastle and Gateshead Councils, One NorthEast, the Homes and Communities Agency, both Local Strategic Partnerships and four independent members including an independent Chair. BNG has been set up to improve housing quality and choice at the heart of NewcastleGateshead through:

• Building new homes
• Improving and refurbishing existing homes
• Converting run-down properties into new homes
• Getting sites ready for new development
• Improving the local environment
• Neighbourhood management

BNG was set up at the end of 2002, as a Housing Market Renewal (HMR) Pathfinder. A national government programme, the aim is to restore sustainable communities in ten areas in the North and Midlands. In 2008, NewcastleGateshead was declared one of 20 New Growth Points, receiving the first block of funding to invest in studies, site preparation and infrastructure to accelerate sustainable housing development to cover the period 2009-11.

Bridging NewcastleGateshead covers an area of around 77,000 properties and 160,000 people in the core of the two areas. The key neighbourhoods in which we work are:

• Walker
• Benwell
• Scotswood
• Elswick
• Bensham
• Felling
• Dunston
• Teams

We also support some work in Byker and Ouseburn. For housing growth, there is an initial focus on the above areas as well as providing more homes in other parts of NewcastleGateshead over time.

Our overall vision is:
To create great places to live.

Our objectives are:
• To enable more people to enter and sustain home ownership, reflecting housing aspirations and to help reduce concentrations of worklessness;
• To provide an improved choice of good quality, well designed homes through new development and investment in sustainable homes whilst replacing obsolete housing;
• To work with partners to improve neighbourhoods to provide a good quality of life and place.

We have an ongoing research programme to establish which neighbourhoods have the greatest need of investment for renewal. We then carry out discussions based on this evidence before we decide what neighbourhoods we will work in. Growth funding is then used to help accelerate housing development in a sustainable way, also supported by infrastructure.

We consider all of the available information – research into the existing housing, and the kind of homes people want to see – and then identify what works will have the biggest, long-term benefit for the area.

This is a long-term programme so the works must be 'phased' over a period of time. We work with our partners to make sure that the work is delivered at the most appropriate time, in the most appropriate places within the timescale in which we are operating. The amount of funding available also determines how much we can do at any point in time.

To date, we have:
• Refurbished over 5,000 homes;
• Demolished 2,365 properties that were no longer sustainable, achieving 96% satisfaction with the service provided to residents being supported through the process of finding a new home;
• Converted or built nearly 300 homes;
• Brought a lot of land into public ownership – that will provide 3,700, high quality new homes in the future.

We receive funding from the government – for 2009 -2010, we were awarded £28.8m in March 2009 followed by a further £3.2m in the summer. In addition to this, there is 'complementary' funding – money from other sources such as private developers, local authorities etc. – invested in the BNG area. For 2008-2009, the amount of money invested in the BNG area, including BNG funding, was £241.

BNG is a partnership and its work is overseen by a board which has an independent chair. The Board’s membership includes local councillors, local authority officers, representatives from the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), One NorthEast and Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs), in addition to independent members.

Resident involvement is key to the success of our programme. We have developed a Commitment to Community Engagement which outlines how we will involve residents in our work. At a local-level,our delivery partners engage with residents on the plans and works for their area and there is a wide variety of ways in which you can get involved in work in your area. For example, by attending events, responding to surveys or dropping into information centres. This list however is not extensive and the type of opportunities available will depend on the area in which you live. For residents who want to get involved at a more strategic level, BNG has a Residents’ Panel which meets to provide comment on key issues related to the work of BNG – such as housing options, design and community engagement – and these comments are fed back into the Board.

To apply to become a member of the Residents Panel, please visit the Residents Panel section of this website.