CITY leaders will have to spend £10m on a new home for science in Newcastle as businesses continue to shun one of England’s largest regeneration schemes.
Council plans to build a gateway building, Science Central, on land opposite St James’ Park, have so far failed to see any major developers offer to take on the cost of building on the site.
As a result the city will have to take on the lease of the site, commission and finance the construction works, and try to secure tenants. The bill for this will involve £10m from previously allocated costs which have already passed £67m. City leaders are expected to push these costs higher as they find the remaining money needed to carry out infrastructure work.
Documents to be presented to city leaders today show more than two thirds of the site will be handed over to non-science based activities, with university relocations and residential use now making up the vast majority of the project.
Those residential and commercial sections are now essential to the project, with city finance chiefs saying they will pay for the next phase of the development after 2014 with the sale of these plots.
Bill Shepherd, the Liberal Democrat councillor once tasked with leading regeneration in the city, said: “It is important that this is not just a chance for the university to build research facilities on the cheap with the bill picked up mainly by the city council.
“Our original aim was that we wanted this to be the site that will find a home for the firms which are at the beginning of becoming the next Boeing, the next Microsoft, the next Amazon, to see that happen in Newcastle and see Science City as the crucible for this.
“If what we end up getting bit by bit is just another shopping centre and some flats next to purely university based research that will be a huge failure for the city.”
In a joint statement Newcastle University and Newcastle Council, the project partners, said a recent £6m Regional Growth Fund award was “further evidence that the Government believes in the ability of Science City to attract new businesses and create the next generation of jobs”.
A spokesman added: “The gateway building – the construction of which will begin in autumn 2012 – will provide incubator space for start-up companies and those wanting to co-locate with the university. The building’s high-quality design will set the tone for the whole site, and because of the nature of its use as an incubator for small businesses it would not be realistic to expect the private sector to construct it in the current climate.
“It is hoped about 40% of the building’s costs will be met by funding from Europe. The university will be the lead investor in the remainder of the infrastructure on the site. The project is expected to be fully complete in around 15-20 years although a range of uses in the interim are planned to encourage greater public use of the site by creating new areas of parkland, community gardens and areas for university trials which will be serviced by an on-site temporary car park.
“There has been no increase in the amount of residential accommodation on the site from the masterplan which was approved in principle in April 2011.”
The statement added that discussion between the two partners had resulted in the council leading on building construction, and taking on the associated risk, but papers to the council’s cabinet show the decision was also taken to avoid a large tax bill being handed to the university.
