'Spectacular' vision for derelict wasteland near Newcastle Quayside

A £120M cash injection to kickstart a revamp of one of the most prominent pieces of derelict land in the North East has been hailed as “the beginning of something huge”.

- DANIEL HOLLAND

The Government announced on Tuesday that it had signed off on a huge public funding package for the Quayside West development near Newcastle city centre.

That money will pay for the remediation of contaminated land on what was previously the home of the Calders leadworks, but has long been a disused wasteland seen every day by thousands of people crossing the Tyne by road or rail.

Some 1,100 homes are planned for the area, which is next to the Utilita Arena, though leaders have cautioned that the regeneration works could take 15 years to complete.

It is hoped that confirmation of the £121.8m deal, which will also fund demolition and clearance works at the site as well as access improvements, will attract a private developer to come on board.

Newcastle City Council leader Karen Kilgour told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the Quayside West plot, the largest parcel of land in the wider Forth Yards area to the west of the city centre, was “complicated” but could become a “huge success”.

She said: “I think we need to be realistic. This is a long-term, 15-year programme until we see completion of the site. But what this money means is that we can start the remediation of the site, we can decontaminate it, we can put the infrastructure in, that means that building can start.