A major draft masterplan has been unveiled for the regeneration of Wallsend if £19m of funding becomes available.
North Tyneside Council has submitted a bid for the Levelling Up money to help pay for the works across Wallsend. The success of the bid was to be determined in October but has been delayed.
A total of £1.5m has already been secured from the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
Segedunum, the High Streets, and Wallsend Town Square have all been identified as priorities for the council's upgrading of Wallsend. High Street East, West, and Station Road could see their pavements widened and have their "unnecessary" bollards removed. This would create outdoor seating for cafes and "declutter" the area.
Wallsend Town Square is also set to be opened up with the "tired and dated" paving, planting, seating and bollards ripped out. The current atmosphere around the town centre, according to a council presentation, "does not provide the high-quality environment this key 'Gateway', crossroads and public space deserve".
The Segedunum Gateway may soon feature a "pocket garden" to enhance the view. The local authority wants to maintain the road as a key riverside traffic route for the industry.
Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn responded to calls from residents across the borough for more work to be done in their communities.
She said: "What people have to understand is we don't have that kind of resource to do this work. We have to have some amazing officers in this council who write bids excellent bids with excellent business stories to go with that convince people.
"We win the bids and we get the money to make those differences. It's really upsetting for me when a resident says 'you're spending all our council tax on that horrible whatever.'
"That's not what we are doing, we can't do anything until we get funding from outside."
Chirton councillor Hannah Johnson said: "I just want to say I really welcome this, I think it's a really exciting opportunity for our residents and for North Tyneside. It links to the Equally Well strategy, which is all about tackling underlying social determinants of health inequalities in the borough.
"This is exactly the kind of thing we should be doing."
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