Efforts to tear down two tower blocks in Newcastle’s East End have been hit by yet another setback.
Council bosses have confirmed that the empty Titan House and Hexham House will remain part of the Walker skyline well into 2023, with their demolition put on hold once again. Plans have been in the works since 2018 to remove the two 16-storey blocks, but they are still standing after the project suffered a series of delays.
The latest hold-up has been blamed on the discovery of a large gas pipe at the base of the towers, which has resulted in the demolition work being pushed back from a scheduled start date last week to after the Christmas holidays.
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A council spokesperson confirmed: “We initially hoped that the demolition of Titan House and Hexham House multi-storey flats in Walker, would begin about now, but unfortunately this has been delayed. A large gas pipe has been discovered at the base of the flats and this must be capped off and made safe before any demolition work can begin.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to residents and businesses. We have spoken to the demolition contractor and agree with them that it is preferable to start the work in the New Year once the Christmas holiday period is out of the way so there is no further disruption.
“A traffic management plan to manage waste vehicles will also be put in place to enable the work to begin. Both the contractor and the council will be working closely to bring the blocks down as quickly and as safely as possible.”
It was originally hoped that the blocks would be removed and 50 affordable homes built in their place by the spring of 2021. A previous delay earlier this year was pinned on thieves who had broken into the vacated towers to steal copper piping.
In 2018, some of their remaining residents of the two blocks claimed that the buildings were being used as drug dens and had become full of “troublemakers”. All Your Homes Newcastle tenants who were living at the Walker towers have since been moved out. There are also plans for a wider regeneration of the area which will also see the Church Walk Shopping Centre bulldozed and new shops opening on the site of the former Rathbone Centre.
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