Questions over plan to build conference centre

NEW work is under way to assess whether a stalled international conference centre and arena development on the Gateshead Quayside can be built.

- DANIEL HOLLAND Local Democracy Reporter

Serious doubts have surrounded plans for a “world-class” regeneration project on the riverside which it is claimed would deliver a £70m annual boost to the North East economy.

Construction on the prime plot, nestled between the Glasshouse music centre and the Baltic art gallery, was meant to begin in autumn 2023.

But the development has become heavily delayed as its costs have spiralled and the site remains vacant, despite Gateshead Council assurances that the flagship scheme known as The Sage will go ahead.

It has now emerged that the North East Combined Authority (NECA) is funding a new push to “assess market demand” for the ambitious vision and “inform potential ways forward on its size and scope”