ST JAMES' SITE IS THE SUBJECT OF HIGH COURT CHALLENGE

James' Stack is on Gallowgate next to the football stadium.

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The fan zone and leisure hub is home to bars and street food vendors, has hosted more than 1,400 stage performances, and now employs 175 people.

An earlier Stack development previously operated on Pilgrim Street in Newcastle city centre, before closing down to make way for the new HMRC offices being built there, while another is due to open at nearby Worswick Chambers.

Set up in partnership with Newcastle United FC and its shirt sponsor Sela, the St James' version of the project opened in summer 2024.

What decision did Newcastle City Council make on it?

The council's planning committee originally granted planning permission to Newcastle United Football Club Projects Limited for the development in October 2023, for a temporary period of three years. Earlier this summer, an extension to that permission was also granted, meaning that the approval now runs until September 2031.

In a report assessing the extension application, city planners concluded that the Stack would "continue to add to the overall vibrancy of this part of the urban core of the city" and was considered to "broaden the leisure offer in the city centre".

Why is it controversial?

The development of St James' Stack sparked opposition from other venues in the city centre a couple of years ago.

In September 2023, 59 businesses wrote to the council's planning committee to warn that the fan zone risked "extremely negative impacts" by driving customers away from other bars and pubs reliant on matchday trade when NUFC are playing at home.

This week, the new NE1 Hospitality Group announced that it had now applied for a judicial review of the council's decision to grant the five-year extension.

They have complained that Stack operates every day of the week, not simply as a matchday fan zone, and "threatens the future of Newcastle's traditional hospitality scene".