The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
£5m found for ferry jetty
COUNCIL LEADERS SET TO SIGN OFF ON CASH FOR NEW NORTH LANDING
ALMOST £5m has been found to help save the Shields Ferry – and there are hopes that more funds to secure its future are not far away.
Council leaders are set to sign off on putting £4.58m of leftover cash from a major Tyne and Wear Metro upgrade towards the building of a new north landing for the ferry.
There have been questions about the future of the river crossing for some time, with worries that its existing jetty in North Shields will fall into an unusable state in 2025.
Plans have been in the works for years to relocate the terminal to a new location next to the North Shields Fish Quay, but the project has suffered a number of setbacks.
The protracted delay has seen the cost of the project now spiral to almost £15m due to inflation, while the deadline to leave the deteriorating north jetty behind draws ever nearer. But hopes are growing that a resolution is finally near.
The North East Joint Transport Committee is expected to agree next Tuesday to reallocate £4.58m of unspent money from the Metro Flow project, a major scheme that saw single track sections of the Metro line to South Shields dualled in 2022.
While that still leaves a substantial portion of the funding still to be secured, there is confidence that will come this summer – following the election of the new North East mayor in May.
Regional transport chiefs have asked for the Government to “accelerate” £8.1m of the City Region Sustainable
Transport Settlement (CRSTS) that will be given to the mayor, given the pressing need for the ferry project to go ahead.
Metro and Ferry operator Nexus told The Chronicle yesterday that there was “strong and widespread support for this project within the region, and we are confident that devolved CRSTS funding will be made available”.
Nexus itself is also planning to pay £1.3m towards the scheme and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership will put in almost £300,000.
Asked if there was a cheaper ‘plan B’ option if the CRSTS money was not forthcoming, Nexus said that the current north jetty “cannot be renovated” and that a new one would have to be built in its place regardless at a similar cost to the
Fish Quay relocation plan. Cathy Massarella, Nexus’ managing director, said: “We have considered several options for the North Shields ferry landing.
“It makes good sense to relocate the landing into the heart of the North Shields Fish Quay regeneration area, with easy links to the town centre and the Riverside Walkway, so we can continue to serve commuters while growing a new leisure and family market linked to local attractions and restaurants.
“The current jetty and landing cannot be renovated and need to be replaced. To do this in the same location would be a considerable cost but without all the benefits of moving to the Fish Quay.
“It would also mean the ferry service could not operate for a prolonged period of up to a year. The north jetty is at the end of its life and we are working with external engineers on a plan to keep it in use as long as we can. We can’t predict the lifespan exactly but we have no time to waste. Local leaders are all backing this scheme, which, if successful, will help to protect eight centuries of maritime heritage on the River Tyne.”
Nexus previously lost £5.6m from the Government’s Getting Building Fund because it could not meet a “strict” timescale which would have required the construction works on the new ferry landing to be completed by spring 2022.
The project was then included in a Levelling Up Fund bid from North Tyneside Council for a wider regeneration of North Shields, but the application was unsuccessful.