Threat hangs over Stephenson works

Sep 6 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

DIRECTORS of a trust which saved the world’s first locomotive factory say a £135,000 rent rise could shut them down.

Enthusiasts took over the former Stephenson works in South Street, Newcastle, 20 years ago and carried out a £400,000 renovation.

But directors of the trust say new owners have raised the annual rent for the listed building from £5,400 a year to £140,000.

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert, then 19, opened the world’s first purpose built railway locomotive works in South Street.

It produced hundreds of engines for railways around the world and pioneering machines such as Locomotion.

The Robert Stephenson Trust took over the near-derelict building 20 years ago and refurbished it.

The building, which holds Robert Stephenson’s restored office, many documents and artefacts and the original steam engine which powered the factory for 80 years, is open to the public one weekend a month and during the annual Heritage Open Days event.

But it is also part of a 10-acre redevelopment scheme by Newcastle developers Silverlink, in what is now dubbed the Stephenson Quarter behind Newcastle Central Station.

Trust director Bob Rennison said the annual rent on the Grade II-star listed building, payable to previous landowners the St Mary the Virgin charitable trust, had been £5,400 – but a re-evaluation by Silverlink put the rent up to £140,000.

He said: “We can’t afford that. We don’t charge people for admission and it would be a terrible shame if we had to get out. The loss to the city would be huge.”

Another trust spokesman said: “We have worked very hard to raise cash, not just for the urgent repairs and restoration, but also to pay for running costs, insurance and leasing charges.

“We have a very loyal network of about a hundred Friends of the trust who contribute to our funds, but with the uncertainty created by re-development proposals and the hefty existing and future running costs, we may not be able to afford to continue.”

Silverlink director Michelle Percy confirmed that the commercial rent for the building was around £140,000.

But she said that it was hoped that the trust could stay if it could play a part in developing a major visitor attraction based on the achievements of Robert Stephenson and the locomotive factory.

A study is under way on what form that attraction could take. Meanwhile, the rent due from the trust had been waived since last March.

She said: “The trust are important to us because they have a huge amount of expertise and archive material on Robert Stephenson.

“But they have to start addressing issues like opening once a month and they have to organise themselves in a better way.”

Trust secretary Jim Coulson, an architect who helped restore the building, said: “Silverlink have the finance to create a Robert Stephenson visitor attraction, but we have the historical knowledge.

“We also raised £400,000 to save the building and a lot of people put a lot of effort into that.

“But we have no income and we wait to hear what proposals Silverlink plan to put on the table.”