A NORTH-EAST regeneration project provides a venue for a national conference on the subject tomorrow.

Investing in Quality looks at the work taking place in the Grainger Town Project in the centre of Newcastle.

The one-day conference will examine Grainger Town and other examples of best practice around Europe, including those in Dublin, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Delegates will see some of the achievements of the first three years of the six-year project, regenerating the historic core of Newcastle city centre.

These include the Wetherspoon's development of the former Union Rooms, in Westgate Road; the Red Box commercial and residential development in St Nicholas Street, Grey Street; the Central Exchange buildings in the Central Arcade; plus the street furniture improvements in the city centre.

City council leader Tony Flynn, who chairs the Grainger Town Partnership overseeing the project, said: "The defining hallmark of Grainger Town is the insistence that has been placed on quality at each step of the project.

"The fact it is now attracting attention from professionals across the country shows the importance of Grainger Town as a benchmark by which future schemes will be judged.

"This conference is a real indication of the progress being made here."

Tomorrow's conference, organised by the Centre for Urban Environment, in conjunction with the partnership, is held at the County Thistle Hotel in Neville Street, Newcastle.