NEWCASTLE: £50m city centre transformation unveiled

Newcastle City Council has unveiled new proposals to redesign many of the city centre’s key features over the coming years, in a bid to recover from the devastating effects of the Covid pandemic.

Most notable is a long-held ambition to pedestrianise Grey Street, with a new concept image showing for the first time what the UK’s most beautiful street could soon look like with no vehicles at all.

A new concept image of Grey Street

The iconic Georgian Street has previously been likened to a car park and has undergone significant changes in the last 12 months as a new cycle lane was installed and some traffic removed.

But civic centre chiefs now intend to press ahead with a total transformation that would see Grey Street become “the hub for cultural events and performance and ultimately the primary pedestrian route between the city centre and Quayside”.

New paving, seating, and greenery could be installed all the way up from Mosley Street to Grey’s Monument, while the entirety of Blackett Street is also set to be pedestrianised as the council confirmed it intends to proceed with plans first published in January 2020 to shut the busy bus route.

An artist’s impression of what Ridley Place will look like

The legal order required to close Blackett Street to traffic is due to be laid in May and the changes could come into force later this year, though they could potentially be delayed if fundamental objections are raised that would trigger a public inquiry.

An urgent strategic review into the future of the Eldon Square shopping centre will be conducted over the next few months, in the hope of addressing the large number of shops that will not reopen post-Covid – most notably the centre’s flagship Debenhams store.

The changes could result in empty retail units being repurposed to be used as space for cultural and experience-based activities or exhibitions.

Old Eldon Square could also undergo a major revamp with the council hoping to turn it into a destination for “major civic and cultural events”.

Council officials indicated that they could install new water features on the square and change its current quadrant layout, while “enhancing the square as a focal place of remembrance and the visibility of the war memorial”.

Saville Row

New trees and other greenery are to be added to Northumberland Street and Saville Row could be turned into a location for independent traders to showcase local art and products, with work expected to start this summer.

The council also plans to turn Ridley Place into a pedestrianised area for markets and pop-up food stalls.

Local traders who operate stalls on Northumberland Street could be told to move their pitches to the planned marketplaces in Ridley Place or neighbouring Vine Lane at some stage, though they are expected to be allowed to trade on the main high street again once lockdown restrictions are eased.

The city council says it has already secured £20 million for the works; that will fund some initial works on Grey Street, though not the entirety of its proposed redesign, and the transformations of Northumberland Street, Ridley Place, and Saville Row.

The deadline for using that funding is March 2023, while the council also hopes to secure another £30 million through a mix of grant funding and private investment.

The next phase of works on Grey Street, expected to be the first of these projects to start, will involve creating further space for pavement cafes as lockdown lifts and improving the temporary cycling and walking routes installed last year. Gradual changes will then continue over the coming years until the street is fully pedestrianised, though it is not known at this stage whether a specific section will remain cordoned off for cyclists in the long-term.

City council leader Nick Forbes said that the city centre “must adapt to survive as now more people are shopping online and climate change has increased the urgency for cleaner, greener spaces”.

He added: “Today we are launching our plans to create a city centre that gives residents and visitors what they want – pleasant open spaces to meet and socialise; a more diverse range of shops; safer streets that are free of traffic where people can walk freely, and attractions that offer families lots of things to do that are fun and educational.

“Newcastle is a premier shopping destination with a bright future and we will work with retailers, the Grainger Market, hospitality and all businesses – in the immediate term to reopen safely in Covid secure, socially distanced way and on these plans which will set us on a new path to create a re-energised city centre.”

Pat Ritchie, the council’s chief executive, added that the changes to the city centre would cause inconvenience to some, but “nothing on the scale caused by the global pandemic”.

She said: “Change is essential to help us rebuild – doing nothing is not an option for our community or our businesses.”