Plans to dramatically transform Newcastle's historic Old Eldon Square have been met with a mixed reaction by businesses and shoppers.
Council bosses have revealed the first designs of how Old Eldon Square might look, with grass replaced by new paving, seats, fountains, and planters. The plan forms part of a major £50m redesign of the city centre which also includes plans to pedestrianise the entirety of Blackett Street and Grey Street to create a “healthier and greener place”.
READ MORE: Newcastle's Hippy Green could be paved over in huge plans for £50m redesign of city centre
But some businesses on Old Eldon Square are against paving over the site, saying that they would like to see the green areas remain.
Nicola Hugill, a stylist at Little She Hairdressing, on Old Eldon Square, said: "I am gutted about it.
"I don't think it will spoil the area but I think it is a bit pointless putting money into that when it looks nice as it is. It is crazy.
"The money would be better spent on things like social care. We have been here for 30 plus years and it is nice to have a bit of green space there.
"A lot of our customers use it as well."
One member of staff at a business on Old Eldon Square, who did not wish to be named, was also against the redesign.
"I think the plans are awful," she said.
"Looking at Old Eldon Square on a day like today when everyone is on the grass and it is so busy, it is lovely to watch. So for that to be paved over is going to be horrendous.
"I think the green is a major part of Newcastle and I am not happy about it. I think it should be left the way it is.
"It is such a lot of money as well. I am dead against it."
Shopper Karen Howe, 57, from Chapel House, Newcastle, said she had mixed views on the development.
"I think if there are plenty of chairs it will be alright, but the thing with the grass is the drainage," she said.
"If you take the grass away you haven't got the drainage in the wet weather. You need green.
"I think they need to update it but keep a little bit of grass for people with babies."
Brenda Gascoigne, from Wickham, also felt they should keep the grass in any future development of the area.
"We love to come and sit in Old Eldon Square, especially on a nice day," she said.
"The kids like to sit on the grass, you have got to think of the kids as well as that is who you bring, don't you? Everywhere else is built up but this is still as it was, a place where everyone wants to meet in the centre of Newcastle.
"But it is old-fashioned, the grass looks shabby, and you have to keep modernising it."
The 1800s square was originally the gardens of a three-sided Georgian terrace, most of which was demolished in the 1970s to make way for the Eldon Square shopping centre.
Newcastle City Council says that it wanted to “sensitively integrate” the war memorial in the square into a “world-class public space to celebrate the life and culture of the city”.
But Jeffrey Fox, chairman of the Joint Ex-Servicemen's Association, JESA, said many members strongly opposed the plans and felt that they did not respect the importance of the war memorial in Old Eldon Square.
"Members are furious," he said.
"I think it will encourage ball games and skateboarding. I have visions of people playing football and it bouncing off the war memorial.
"I would be happier if it was surrounded by more appropriate grass and shrubbery along with a prominent sign explaining the history of the number of war dead and commemorating them."
The council said that city residents would be asked for views on the Old Eldon Square plans soon, with a series of public events set to be announced.
