The North East mayor insists she is “confident” in plans to build a new arena on the Gateshead Quayside.
Huge proposals for a 12,500-seat arena and an international grade convention centre on the south banks of the River Tyne have stalled, with the expected cost of the development having spiralled.
A study has been under way recently to determine whether it is financially viable to push ahead with development on the empty building site, on a prime plot of land nestled between the Glasshouse music centre and Baltic art gallery, with the North East Combined Authority and Gateshead Council’s decision yet to be confirmed.
Whether the scheme goes ahead and in what form also has a major knock-on impact for Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, which is meant to be replaced by the Quayside venue.
This week has seen the Government confirm a £120 million public funding package to finally kickstart the development of Newcastle’s Quayside West project, an 1,100-home building scheme on the derelict former Calders leadworks site which sits between the river and the existing arena.
City leaders’ vision for that wider Forth Yards area west of the city centre includes up to 2,500 homes in total, as well as an elevated park and active travel route.
Image: LDRS
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on a visit to welcome that huge investment, North East mayor Kim McGuinness said the neighbouring Utilita Arena remained an “attractive location” for big events.
However, she added that the Gateshead Quays plot remains “pretty much the best place in the country” for a new arena to be built.
The Labour mayor said: “In October we will host the Mercury Prize in Newcastle Arena – it is going to be a really proud moment for us. Back in February we hosted the MOBOs. This is still an attractive city and an attractive location to bring these massive national and international events and we want to keep that going and be competitive. My view is that the site south of the river is ripe for development as an arena and conference centre, and we are working really hard to make that happen.
“We know previous plans were outpriced because of inflation, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t pretty much the best place in the country to do something like that. I am confident we will get it under way and confident we will get something under way very quickly, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Building work on the “world class” arena and conference was meant to begin in autumn 2023, but construction never started.
In January 2023, it was stated that the estimated cost of the development, which would be known as The Sage, had jumped from an original £260 million to more than £350 million – a figure that is thought to have risen again since.
The escalating costs have been blamed on various factors including the impact of Covid-19, Brexit, the war in Ukraine, and inflation hitting the construction industry.
Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon said earlier this year that the funding gap for the scheme was “less than £100 million”.
In April, the North East Combined Authority (NECA) stepped in to fund a £500,000 study to determine what kind of development was now feasible and what market demand there is.
No firm plans have been announced for the future of the existing Utilita Arena site, should it close down as planned.
ASM Global, which owns and operates the site, were contacted for a response.
