Newgate Street shopping centre to go in revamp

Jun 5 2010 by Amy Hunt, The Journal

A MULTI-MILLION pound scheme to replace an eyesore shopping centre has been given the green light.

Newgate Street in Newcastle is set for an £100m revamp which will see the 1960s shopping centre demolished and replaced with new shops, offices and three hotels.

A total of 1,200 jobs look set to be created by the scheme, which was given planning permission by city councillors.

They decided the regeneration would breathe new life into a part of the city left behind by the building of the Gate and the extension of Eldon Square.

The Newgate Shopping Centre has long been considered an eyesore and a blot on the Grainger Town conservation area.

Of 240 nearby businesses consulted on the plans only one objection was received.

Planners also gave the go-ahead for the Quality Hotel and Newgate Shopping Centre to be demolished and for a listed building on Clayton Street to be renovated as part of the scheme.

Flamewall Ltd, a subsidiary of Irish developer McAleer and Rushe, which bought the centre for £18.2m four-and-a-half years ago, is behind the redevelopment.

Michael Hepburn, associate director at planning consultants Nathaniel Litchfield and Partners, who acted on behalf of McAleer and Rushe, said: “We are extremely pleased to have helped McAleer & Rushe secure planning permission for this crucial development in the heart of Newcastle.

“The development will replace the existing buildings with a very high quality scheme that will complement the nearby extension to Eldon Square and increase the number of visitors to this part of the city centre.”