A STUDY has pinpointed Gateshead’s Quayside as a site for a prestigious new conference centre.
Regeneration bosses say the £80m International Conference and Exhibition Centre would create 2,000 jobs and bring £25m of investment to the region each year, by attracting 250,000 extra visitors.
Council leaders in Gateshead say they are pleased the plans fit in with the borough’s future ambitions.
But across the water in Newcastle some are disappointed the city may miss out.
City development company 1NG says there is huge demand within the region for conference facilities which cannot be met at the moment, with some lucrative contracts having to be turned away.
1NG commissioned a feasibility study into the plans for the centre. Gateshead Quays was identified as the preferred site, due to other buildings already in the area, such as The Sage Gateshead, Baltic art centre and Hilton hotel, which planners believe would create a “conference district”.
It is envisaged public sector cash, from One North East, Gateshead Council and other partners, would be used to pay for the centre, but 1NG says it will also seek to attract funding from the private sector.
Consultants KPMG, who have previously worked on conference centres in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, will come up with detailed plans for the centre, including what it will look like.
Meanwhile 1NG will come up with a masterplan for the site and the whole area. If all goes to plan building work could start in mid-2011 and would take three years to complete.
ING chief executive Jim McIntyre said: “NewcastleGateshead has already established a strong track record in securing major domestic and international conferences. However, due to the absence of large-scale flat-floor conference and exhibition facilities NewcastleGateshead is limited in the scope and scale of events it can accommodate and has to turn away larger and more lucrative conference and exhibition events.
“Although work is at an early stage, an international conference and exhibition centre would be a great economic driver for the region.
“It is important in times of economic difficulty as in times of growth to be positive and this has always been a strength of NewcastleGateshead as a destination. The development of an international conference and exhibition centre would help deliver substantial and sustainable results for the long-term success of the region.”
Gateshead Council leader Mick Henry said: “This kind of development would certainly fit in with our ambitions to be a city and would be another exciting new use on Gateshead Quays that would benefit the whole region.
“It is the kind of development we would like to attract as part of the new economic masterplan for Gateshead & Newcastle and would bring a welcome boost to the area’s economy.”
Newcastle Labour leader Nick Forbes said: “This proves how much better Gateshead is than Newcastle at planning major regeneration projects.
“It will be a huge missed opportunity for Newcastle to have a prestigious international conference centre across the water. Good on Gateshead for getting their act together and shame on Newcastle for dithering around.
“It’s disappointing for Newcastle that it’s lost out again. This will bring jobs and economic benefits for the region and will help put the North East on the map.”
But Newcastle’s deputy council leader David Faulkner said: “True to form, Coun Forbes indulges in party political point-scoring rather than working for the best interests of our area. If a conference centre makes best economic and physical sense on the Gateshead side of the river then so be it. We need the best possible case to give us the strongest chance of funding. In reality the economic benefit from conferences will flow strongly to the local hotels and restaurants, most of which are in Newcastle.
“Newcastle has two universities, a cathedral, a football stadium, top hotels, several great theatres and galleries and the country’s best new library, together with commercial redevelopment plans for over a third of the city centre area, from Science City to the Stephenson Quarter and East Pilgrim Street. We don’t need to hog everything.”