Conceived of in the late 2016, Gateshead Riverside Park coae out of the Newcastle City Futures which brought together people from the private sector, public sector and academia to envisage what Newcastle and Gateshead could look like in the year 2030.  It was set up by Mark Tudor Jones then of Newcastle University.

The idea was simple – to create a series of stepping stones and destinations that would get people into Gateshead to help regenerate the area.  The first stepping stone was the container village food destination directly under the infamous Tyne Bridge which was a great success.

Once this was constructed all eyes fell onto a wooded section along the River Tyne to the west, and the notion of a series of stepping stones, the ‘String of Pearls’, destinations to entice exploring the riverside towards the historic Dunston Staiths – thought to be the largest timber structure in Europe.

Being a mature wood on the edge of the largest city in the North East of England with some of the most iconic bridges in the world towering overhead with easy access from both Newcastle and Gateshead city centres, was an aspect to be protected and enhanced. It also gave Gateshead something that no one else in the country had.

The vision was to therefore attract a new family orientated audience to Gateshead, to enhance the wood respect local history and heal, connect and give opportunity to adjacent neglected communities.  But most of all it was to inspire!

Seeing the potential in the scheme Gateshead Council appointed a full-time member of staff to drive the vision forward. This resulted in Colour being appointed again to create a Spatial Delivery Plan. Working with the Rural Design Centre, Newcastle Gateshead Imitative, Gateshead Council, Newcastle University, Northumbria University and the National Trust this piece of work was divided into two. A research piece which was a desktop study and a mix of face to face, online questionnaire and student participation which contacted over 1500 people and 50 organisations to identify the needs wants and issues in the area.

The next element of the work was to come up with a remedy to the issues identified in the previous section.  This resulted in the proposal of 3 destinations being located along the park, identification of potential new sites which would benefit the park and new links connecting existing and potentially new communities.

The next steps are to follow shortly – keep watching this space !