'If we lose it, we won't get it back'

'If we lose it, we won't get it back' – Shields Ferry warning as cash shortage for critical upgrade goes on

There is an increasing risk of a critical new landing for the Shields Ferry not being built by a 2025 deadline, after a Levelling Up bid was rejected.

Transport chiefs have warned that the future of the river crossing could be in jeopardy as its existing north jetty is in a worrying state of disrepair – potentially putting an end to centuries of maritime tradition. Nexus wants to build a new landing closer to the North Shields Fish Quay, but that project has suffered multiple money setbacks and remains well short of the funding needed.

The ferry and Tyne and Wear Metro operator lost £5.6m of Government funding for the scheme in 2021 as it could not meet strict building timescales, while a recent bid to the Levelling Up Fund failed. A report to councillors this week has now warned that there is an “increasing likelihood that the new landing will not be completed by 2025”.

While Nexus has previously cautioned that a failure to replace the North Shields landing could render the ferry inoperable, its managing director Martin Kearney pledged to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in December that he would not close it down. It is understood that Nexus are exploring alternative plans that would see the existing jetty given a major structural refurbishment, if the blueprint for the new landing the Fish Quay fails to secure any funding.

North Tyneside deputy mayor Carl Johnson told North East Joint Transport Committee (JTC) colleagues on Thursday that the ferry could not be allowed to cease operations. He said: “If we lose it then we will not get it back. It is important for commuters and for leisure, but once we lose it then we will not be able to get the funding to bring it back again.”

Plans for a new Shields Ferry landing at North Shields Fish Quay. (Nexus)

A report to the JTC’s Tyne and Wear sub-committee stated that the risk status of the ferry landing project had been increased due to the continuing funding shortage.

Major projects director at Nexus, Cathy Massarella, said: “The Shields Ferry is an iconic local service and we remain fully committed to securing its long term future. Nexus is working closely with councils in North Tyneside and South Tyneside to seek the funding needed to maintain this vital and historic transport link.”

Nexus recently commissioned a survey on the bed of the Tyne as part of preparations to create a new landing near the Fish Quay. In March, a 100ft drilling platform was folated into the site to test the conditions below the river at the point where the jetty could be built.

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