By Stephen Patterson, Chief Executive, NE1 Ltd
I think we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Government approved the release of the £35 million funding for the long-awaited restoration of the Tyne Bridge. This money comes at a time when Newcastle is enjoying an exciting renaissance the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the heady days of Grainger and Dobson in the 19th Century.
Today a monumental transformation is taking place with multi-million-pound developments across the city including Pilgrim Street, the Helix, Stephenson Quarter and the public realm improvements on Northumberland Street and the city’s retail core.
Add to this the new Metro fleet and now the muchneeded repair and resurfacing of the Tyne Bridge and we have a comprehensive, city-wide rejuvenation, all progressing at the same time.
While we are delighted by this and relieved that the investment has been secured, the rusting Tyne Bridge stands as a regional symbol of how not to plan infrastructure investment at a national level.
These investment ‘buses’ arriving all at once, cause their own issues, with projects competing for finite space and time in the schedule and creating inevitable inconvenience. The future prosperity and growth of Newcastle and the rest of the country shouldn’t be run this way.
The money granted to the Tyne Bridge is for essential maintenance, to halt terminal decline and ensure that it is still standing in another 100 years. It is not designed to improve transport times, add capacity or economic growth.
Investment for economic growth and future prosperity should come in the form of ambitious, long-term, costed plans for the next Tyne Bridge, the next Tyne Tunnel or the dualling of the A1 North. A continuous and sustained investment that provides a degree of certainty and stability, paired with local ambition and local priorities, is what will unlock the true potential of the region and provide the flag for both the public and private sectors to rally behind.
Whichever political party is in power at the end of this year would be wise to dispense with this ridiculous beauty parade of central government funding that requires local Councils to pitch against each other for cash, based on criteria set in Whitehall. This piecemeal approach serves no one.
Historically, the UK has always under-invested in infrastructure for growth, and nationally there now needs to be a consistent and sustained approach to address this.
Just as the Tyne Bridge is symbolic of the national Government getting things wrong, the plan to reopen the Leamside railway line is a shining example of the region getting things right. The proposed £600 million project, championed by Transport North East, is a shining example of great forward-thinking and the type of investment that’s needed. The estimated cost for the whole line is equivalent to the amount spent on one new tube station in London.
The Mayoral election in May provides the perfect opportunity to amplify the region’s voice. On its own, the new Combined Authority won’t be a silver bullet for all the region’s woes but it will be a hugely positive step in the right direction and will act as a catalyst for the region to provide its own solutions to problems that have long been dodged or ignored.
Public-sector investment is crucial to encouraging confidence and future opportunities for growth in the private sector. NE1’s Bigg Market regeneration illustrated this perfectly. This award-winning project with its £3.2 million investment from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, NE1, Newcastle City Council and partners unlocked a further £17 million from the private sector and created 330 new jobs.
We celebrate wholeheartedly the cranes over Newcastle, knowing they represent the most significant transformation to the city since the 19th century. The future awaits, and I hope our next Government will help us grasp it.
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