Not for Sale - no adverts on the Bridge
MOVE IS RULED OUT AS A WAY OF RAISING REVENUE FOR UPKEEP
ADVERTISING space will not be sold on the Tyne Bridge to help pay for its £20 million refurbishment, council bosses have promised.
It was revealed last week the landmark will have to wait until 2020 at the earliest for a much-needed makeover.
But suggestions that space for advertising banners on the historic structure could be sold as a means of raising cash have been rejected.
The only regular banners erected on the bridge are for the Great North Run, with additional signs for special events such as the Rugby World Cup and Great Exhibition of the North.
Councillors suggested at a meeting of the Joint Tyne Bridges Committee that the Great Run Company should be made to pay for its advertising, but notions of other corporate logos appearing on the bridge were dismissed.
Newcastle transport chief Coun Arlene Ainsley said that “we don’t want to see any signs advertising things on the Tyne Bridge”, while Gateshead counterpart Coun John McElroy added the landmark’s “integrity” had to be maintained.
Last month, cash-strapped Newcastle City Council said it would be looking to “increase income generated through selling advertising and sponsorship including bridge banners” as part of its latest round of budget proposals.
However, the authority has confirmed that the Tyne Bridge will not be considered as an advertising location.
A council spokesman said: “The Joint Bridges Committee reiterated a decision that only banners for major events with benefits for the whole of the city, such as the Great North Run and Rugby World Cup, will be allowed to go up on the Tyne Bridge.
“While the city council is exploring generating additional income through selling advertising on bridges, this will be road bridges and not the Tyne Bridge which is an iconic landmark.”
Coun Eagle said that with council budgets “tighter and tighter”, civic centre chiefs either side of the Tyne should be looking to impose a fee on the Great Run Company, which does cover the cost of erecting its banners annually.
He said that every major newspaper carries photos each year of the Red Arrows flying above runners on the Tyne Bridge, and that any other city in the world would charge for that kind of advertising.
Coun John McClurey added: “The signs would look much better if the bridge was painted again. Why don’t they chip in and we will paint it before they put the banner up? Shy bairns get nowt. There is no reason we cannot ask them for more.”
The councils say they are waiting for the government to open bids for funding that would enable the bridge to be repainted for the first time since 2000.
Civic centre officers confirmed today that they expect some money to become available by the end of this financial year, but do not know whether that will cover all of the £1520 million needed for the renovation.
The iconic landmark, which is 90 years old, is in need of a major refurbishment - including a fresh coat of paint, road resurfacing, and other vital repairs.