Two in court over alleged shop robbery

TYNESIDE’S new £200m conference centre will give a massive boost to the region’s economy, it has been claimed.

The venue between the Sage and the Baltic came a step closer when Gateshead Council announced a partnership with property developers Ask Real Estate and investment group Patrizia to develop a 12,500seat arena, plus conference and exhibition facilities on the 10-acre site.

The development will see the creation of an entertainment, conference and exhibition centre, a hotel, bars and restaurants on the site, with the operator of the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle closing its current site and moving across the river.

Gateshead Council will be borrowing £25m to help fund the scheme, with £5m coming from the North East LEP’s local growth fund and the rest from the private partners in the scheme.

Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon defended the spending on the development, and said council budgets would not be affected and the new jobs provided would benefit the town.

He said: “We’ve long had an ambition to do this but the big shift here is that we’ve got the users signed in for 35 years.

“People are going to ask where the money is coming from, and I know they will say that this is happening when we’re closing libraries or reducing their mother’s care package.

“But not a penny of this comes from our revenue budget. This is an investment so that we can generate more business rates, plus we get a rental income from the site, and that all actually helps us sustain services.

“The Government is reducing our support grant by 2021 and we’ll have greater demands as well. So if we don’t grow our budget, every penny we have will go on adult social care and other fixed costs. We’ve got no choice but to grow our income – it’s also jobs and prosperity and great facilities for the town.”

The project – which would reach from South Shore Road, across the Mill Road car park and to the former Baric Systems warehouse on Hawks Road – is estimated to support more than 1,100 jobs, half of them newly created, bringing nearly 300,000 visitors to Tyneside each year and adding £29.5m into the area’s economy.

It is hoped the development will open by 2021, bringing to fruition plans that have been talked about for more than a decade.

Paul Szomoru, head of business tourism for the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “Business tourists spend more than leisure visitors. They’ve got the company credit card and they’re relatively affluent.

“We survey delegates when they come here and 91% of them love the experience and want to come back. With business delegates, people are told where to go, it’s where the conference is going to be. But that gives us a chance to change their perception of this area and what’s great is that many people who come here for conferences end up coming back with their families and friends for holidays.

“The Sage Gateshead has a capacity of around 1,700 but conferences of that size need a big floor space for exhibitions and dinners. We don’t have that at the moment and that’s holding us back from getting the big conferences – this will change that.

“The other benefit is that we have expertise in the region in things like offshore, advanced manufacturing, ageing and life sciences. If we can attract the big national and international organisations in these areas to have their conferences here, it showcases our companies and that should lead to inward investment to the region.” TWO men appeared in court over an alleged shop robbery.

Dozens of police descended on the Chirton area of North Shields following the early-morning incident at the One Stop Shop, on Kirton Park Terrace, last Thursday.

Lee Stephenson, 38, of Locksley Close, in New York, North Shields, and Craig Watson, 34, of no fixed address, appeared in court.

Both were charged with two counts of burglary, one of theft from a vehicle and one of robbery.

Watson was also charged with resisting arrest and possession of a bladed article.

Stephenson and Watson appeared before magistrates. The case was sent to Newcastle Crown Court where the defendants will appear next month.

Both were remanded in custody.