Calls for Quays Arena 'pipe dream' to be axed

UNCERTAINTY REMAINS OVER DEVELOPMENT PLANS AMID SPIRALLING COSTS

- By DANIEL HOLLAND

COUNCIL bosses have rejected a call to abandon the stalled vision for a “world class” arena and international conference centre on the Gateshead Quayside.

Serious doubt has surrounded the flagship development for years, after the project's costs spiralled far above the original £260 million estimate.

Construction of the new riverside destination is still yet to start on what is a prime plot of land between the Glasshouse music centre and Baltic art gallery, with the North East mayor's office stepping in last year to launch a review of the scheme alongside Gateshead Council.

Councillors heard on Monday morning that negotiations over the site's future are at a “very delicate” stage but that the council’s development partner, Ask:PATRIZIA, is still on board and “confident” in the regeneration blueprint.

Gateshead Council director Anneliese Hutchinson told a scrutiny committee that work was still going on with the North East Combined Authority to prove the business case for the project, but that bosses were still a “few months away” from making an announcement.