Pipe dream

 

It was meant to be a fantastic building attracting worldwide attention and international visitors. It was meant to put Gateshead on the map. But the international convention centre, planned in the last decade and meant to have been built well before now, is yet to have a brick laid. The initial cost of £260 million has ramped up and the land on the Gateshead Quays where it was supposed to be built remains derelict.

It became obvious that the plan was going off target in 2024 when Labour put out a leaflet in the Bridges by-election to Gateshead Council. Labour listed lots of good thinks they alleged were happening in the ward. Noticeably missing from this list was the convention centre.

As we enter 2026, we await a report from the Regional Mayor on whether or not there is enough demand for the facilities.

Ron Beadle, Leader of the Lib Dem Opposition in Gateshead, described the floundering convention plans as a "pipe dream" at the Council's corporate resources scrutiny committee on Monday. At the same meeting I tried to get officers to pin down an expected date for publication of the report. They wouldn't do that. All I could get was a commitment that it would be sometime in the coming months.

We await its publication with interest.