Major work on the regeneration of a run-down row of shops will begin this spring, developers have confirmed.
Plans emerged last year for a major facelift of the dilapidated Newbiggin Hall neighbourhood centre, with the existing shopping parade to be torn down to make way for a string of new outlets and 43 new homes also to be built nearby.
Newcastle City Council has now granted formal planning permission for the development, led by Gentoo Homes, to go ahead.
Anthony Lowther, Managing Director of Gentoo Homes, said: "We are delighted to have been granted planning permission for the redevelopment of land off Trevelyan Drive in Newbiggin Hall
"Working in partnership with Newcastle City Council and retail regeneration specialist, Resilienti, we're excited to continue providing high quality new homes in Newcastle through the construction of 43 residential units on the site."
Gentoo confirmed that major construction on the retail element of the project - which will include a supermarket and a pharmacy - will begin in spring 2019, and that the new homes will not be built until the shops are completed.
The local authority's planning committee had given its approval for the plans to go ahead last August, but it has taken until now for council staff to give the final thumbs-up for the development after reaching agreements with Gentoo.
Planning committee chair Coun Hazel Stephenson said last year: "This is a long-awaited development. I remember people who are no longer with us who wanted to get this shopping area regenerated, going back more than 20 years.
"It would be very, very welcome. Everybody who went on the site visit would agree that it is a sorry state that people are living with areas like this."
In its planning application, Gentoo said that the scheme will provide "much-needed" family housing and regenerate an area that is partly vacant and dilapidated at the moment.
