SOME of the region’s biggest regeneration projects were last night turned down for Regional Growth Fund cash.
The Government turned down bids worth £40m for a new conference centre in Gateshead and £8m for Newcastle’s flagship Science Central development.
There were also failed bids for £5m to develop the Stephenson Quarter behind Newcastle’s Central Station, plus another £9m for developments at the front of the station.
It is thought these projects will be allowed to bid for the second round of infrastructure cash, worth nearly £1bn, when it opens today.
Across the region, 69 firms and councils put in bids worth £339m. Just 14 of these were successful, worth a total of £56m.
Insiders say the projects were turned down because there is no private sector support for them as they stand.
Last night deputy prime minister Nick Clegg told The Journal: “There are a number of companies who have not been successful, because the fund was wildly oversubscribed, but that should not be treated as just bad news.
“This is much like failing your driving test the first time – you are welcome to try again. We will contact all the failed bids to say why they did not get through and to go over how to bid again.”
Officers at the Newcastle and Gateshead city development company 1NG have said they will now have to re-think the timeframe for work on the Science City site.
Paul Walker, chair at Newcastle Science City, said: “Although this decision is a setback for Science Central, it will not deter us in our ambition to develop this truly visionary plan which represents the largest city centre development opportunity for over a decade.”
The city development company group is also aiming to build a conference centre next to The Sage Gateshead, with question marks hanging over both projects.
A spokesman said: “It’s a great disappointment at this stage that the regional growth fund panel has not been able to allocate money towards the international conference and exhibition centre which would have had such a positive impact on business tourism infrastructure and private-sector job creation in Newcastle Gateshead and the wider region.
“We will consider all the options available with partner Gateshead Council on how best to take the site forward and once we’ve received detailed feedback we will decide whether to resubmit for this project for round 2 funding.”
Last night Newcastle Council insisted the successful offshore sector bids from Tyneside companies would offset the initial loss.
Andrew Lewis, director of policy, said: “This is excellent news for Walker and the city and another significant step in a programme of investment into the Tyne as one of Europe’s leading centres for offshore marine technology.
“The city council is keen to work with partners to access funding from the next round of the fund, which will be more suitable for infrastructure schemes.”
