Regeneration of Newcastle / Gateshead Quays
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THE REGENERATION OF NEWCASTLE / GATESHEAD QUAYS ERIC MORGAN The Author Eric Morgan BSc, FRICS joined Sanderson Townend and Gilbert, Chartered Surveyors, in 1970 and has been actively involved with the Quayside ever since. One of his first jobs was advising Sir Laurie Barratt on letting Tyne Bridge Tower quickly followed by advising Land Securities on the All Saints office scheme. Over the years he has been involved with many different owners and users on the Quayside including Dickinson Dees, Procter and Gamble and Barclays Bank. In addition he has assisted One North East, English Partnerships and the Development Corporation as well as both Local Authorities on individual projects on The Quays. He is now retired. Acknowledgments I would like to thank Mel Clark of Airfotos of Morpeth for the aerial photography which enables the reader “to see” much of what is described in the text. Air Fotos hold a superb library of aerial photography for most of the main attractions and commercial centres of the North East and I can recommend their helpful manner to you. The well known quotations used in the book can be found along with many others on the same broad subject in the Dictionary of Quotations. The excellent Newcastle City and Gateshead Libraries local history sections have provided material and illustrations which support the content of the book. Darren Turner of Azure Printing has provided the cover photograph together with the design and layout of the book. Graeme Ross has provided most of the ground photography. I must give particular thanks to Roy Ashton who produced some illuminating comments on one of the first drafts. Ken Quinn, Michael Dunston and Brian Lewis have also reviewed the manuscript but all the opinions expressed in the book are my own. Patsy Healey, who provides the foreword to the book, has also given the time and encouragement over a number of years to discuss some of the issues which I hope the book raises for all those involved in regeneration, property and planning. Eric Morgan - March 2009 Copyright © Eric Morgan 2009 Published by STG Publishing, 96 Runnymede Road, Ponteland, Newcastle upon Tyne NE20 9HH Email: [email protected] ISBN 978-0-9562283 Printed by Azure Printing Units 1 F & G, Pegswood Industrial Estate, Pegswood, Northumberland NE61 6HZ Tel: 01670 510271 CONTENTS 1) Foreword - Patsy Healey .......................................................................................... 4 2) Introduction - The regeneration of Newcastle Gateshead Quays .......................... 6 3) 1963-1980 - Planning a new Brasilia in Newcastle ................................................ 8 All Saints Scheme ......................................................................................................10 4) 1980-1987 -The conservation concept in Newcastle ........................................... 12 Yuill Residential Scheme ...........................................................................................14 Princes Buildings ...................................................................................................... 15 Watergate Buildings and Guildhall .......................................................................... 16 The Crown Courts .................................................................................................. 17 5) 1987-1997 -The Development Corporation era .................................................. 18 Shearwater/Rosehaugh scheme ................................................................................ 21 The Fishmarket and Copthorne Hotel .................................................................... 25 Extract from ‘Farrell’ plans for East Quayside .......................................................... 27 St Ann’s Wharf ......................................................................................................... 31 Malmaison Hotel ..................................................................................................... 32 6) Gateshead Quays .................................................................................................... 34 The Baltic ................................................................................................................ 35 The Sage .................................................................................................................. 39 The Millenium Bridge ............................................................................................. 39 7) Growth in residential use - 1998 onwards ............................................................ 42 Miller Residential Scheme ........................................................................................ 42 Love Lane Apartments ............................................................................................. 43 St Anns Quay ........................................................................................................... 44 Tyne Bridge Tower ................................................................................................... 46 Hilton Hotel ............................................................................................................ 47 8) Commercial development activity - 1998 onwards .............................................. 49 The Silverlink Scheme ............................................................................................. 51 Robertson/City & Northern Offices ........................................................................ 52 9) Understanding the property developer - Their input into regeneration............. 54 Site layout proposal for Metro Centre site ................................................................ 58 The Metro Centre as built ....................................................................................... 60 10) Reflections on the process...................................................................................... 62 Aerial Photographs 1982 .................................................................................................. 12 1995 .................................................................................................. 29 1992 .................................................................................................. 34 2001 .................................................................................................. 41 2008 .................................................................................................. 70 3 FOREWORD Building the fabric of cities requires substantial resources of land, labour and capital. Where large sites and intricate multi-activity complexes are involved, it also demands considerable organisational capacity, sustained over long periods of time. Who gets involved in this work has varied significantly in the 20th Century, with changing balances between public and private initiative. In the UK in the later 20th Century, the emphasis has increasingly been on encouraging the private sector – the property development ‘industry’, to take the lead. But the public sector has always been an important presence, not only as a ‘regulator’, but also in providing incentive funding and the power of compulsory land acquisition. As even smaller development projects need a few years from initiation to completion, their management often has to survive the ups and downs of political priorities and attitudes, and swings in economic fortunes. In a place like Newcastle in the later 20th Century, the impact of these swings can be particularly problematic, as the region’s economic base remains vulnerable. In such conditions, sustaining private sector investment in property development activity and maintaining active property markets is never easy, except at peak times in property booms. For this reason, it is very important that those involved in such activity in both public sector and private sector agencies have a shrewd understanding of the dynamics of property development and investment, as well as the ways that different kinds of public development incentives can work under different conditions. Eric Morgan’s ‘biography’ of development schemes over the past thirty years or so makes a fascinating contribution to enhancing this understanding. It is written by someone who has been an ‘insider’ in these dynamics, working in particular in the commercial sector, advising both public and private sector clients. I cannot think of any similar account by such an actor in the property development business for any other city. More usually, such accounts, where they exist at all, are written by academic social scientists or historians. So this account is to be welcomed as a contribution to both the history of the building of a particular city, and to the range of perspectives from which to understand property development processes. I should also like to put on record my own appreciation of Eric’s contribution. I arrived in the Newcastle area twenty years ago, as a planning academic, struggling to understand the property development industry. I too became involved in some of the initiatives which Eric describes. But throughout this time, I have valued his perspective, discussion and insight into the unfolding development scene. He has become one of the few commercial sector property consultants to contribute to an academic book, and has also been a much-valued lecturer on Masters courses in Newcastle University. I recommend all those in the planning and property 4 sector, and especially those who want to