Regeneration project handed £120m boost

A FLAGSHIP regeneration project on the banks of the Tyne has been handed a huge boost, with the Government committing more than £120m to get it off the ground.

- By DANIEL HOLLAND

Ministers have confirmed a massive cash injection for the Quayside West development in Newcastle, which could see 1,100 homes built on derelict wasteland next to the Utilita Arena.

A funding package worth £121.8m will pay for land remediation and groundworks at the old Calders leadworks site, as well as the building of essential infrastructure around the riverside plot, in the hope of making it a more attractive proposition for a private developer to come on board.

Quayside West has been described as the last major undeveloped brownfield site in Newcastle and is the biggest parcel of land within the wider Forth Yards area, the regeneration of which has been high on city leaders' agenda for years.

A £250m vision from builder Newby to put more than 1,000 homes on the site to the west of Newcastle city centre was approved back in 2020, but never went ahead.

The land was later purchased by Homes England, the Government's housing and regeneration agency, in an effort to put it back on track for redevelopment.