Gateshead has won £20m from the Government to get the building of a “world class” arena on the Quayside back on track.
Council chiefs are rejoicing as ministers confirmed that they will be putting a multi-million pound investment into the building of the new Sage arena, conference centre, and hospitality complex. There have been worries that the massive development, which will act as a replacement for the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, could be scuppered by spiralling costs hitting the construction industry – with the escalating price of steel being a major worry.
But it was announced on Wednesday night that Gateshead Council’s £20m bid to the delayed second round of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF) has been successful. The North East has also secured £19.5m for a fleet of electric buses and charging facilities, while Northumberland County Council has been given almost £15m to build new cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.
Read More: Gateshead Quayside arena in need of £20m Levelling Up boost as construction costs escalate
Work on the early stages of building the new Quayside arena facilities, which were expected to cost £300m and will be nestled between the existing Sage concert hall and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, has ground to a halt recently as local authority chiefs have awaited the outcome of the funding bid. A bid to secure extra money for the project, which it is hoped will attract nearly 800,000 visitors a year, was announced in June last year, having failed to secure backing when the first Levelling Up Fund winners were named in 2021.
The local authority said at the time that the arena plans were made before the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which had “rocked the supply chain, throwing costing uncertainty into the mix and putting financial pressures on the development”. It was then revealed last October that a hotel attached to the Sage complex was being removed from the plans and relocated, in an effort to make it “more cost efficient”.
The development will feature a 12,500-capacity arena and a conference centre, plus new bars, restaurants, public space and walkways along the Quayside. With Sage PLC having bought the naming rights for the new complex, the existing Sage Gateshead music centre next door is due to be renamed.
The project is among 111 awarded up to £2.1bn combined, which the government says will provide “greater investment in communities that will create new jobs, drive economic growth, help restore people’s pride in the places where they live, and spread opportunity more equally”. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: “We are firing the starting gun on more than a hundred transformational projects in every corner of the UK that will revitalise communities that have historically been overlooked but are bursting with potential.
“This new funding will create jobs, drive economic growth, and help to restore local pride. We are delivering on the people’s priorities, levelling up across the UK to ensure that no matter where you are from, you can go as far as your talents will take you.”
The North East Combined Authority will receive nearly £20m to deliver a fleet of 52 electric buses, 26 rapid chargers, and 92 electric vehicle chargers across the North East. That has been described as a “huge boost for the region’s zero-carbon economy”.
Greener travel in Northumberland has also won the Government’s support, with £14.7m towards new cycling and walking routes for Tynedale and Bedlington. Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said: "This is incredibly good news for the county and especially communities in Bedlington and Tynedale.
“The benefits of using our cars less where we can and taking more sustainable transport are well known to us all and this is exactly the kind of investment which will make a real difference. A considerable amount of work was carried out to develop a suite of Local Cycling and Walking Plans for the county and we're delighted these two schemes were successful in securing Levelling Up funding."
However, there was no mention in the Government's announcement of bids to secure funding for a new Shields Ferry landing in North Shields or for a regeneration of Ashington town centre. Previous North East bids to win LUF funding have included a restoration of Newcastle's Grainger Market and the building of a new leisure centre in West Denton.
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