Regeneration plan will lift North East, Metrocentre boss says

The man behind a massive regeneration project aiming to create thousands of homes around a shopping centre has said he is keen to get a "spade in the ground".

The Metro Riverside project will see 4,500 homes, offices and leisure facilities built on brownfield land around the Metrocentre in Gateshead.

But construction work is still some way off and the new partnership, made up of the shopping centre and Gateshead Council, is focusing its effort on developing its plans and finding investors.

Metrocentre chairman Martin Healy said he believed the development would tackle a "chronic lack of government investment" in north-east England.

"It addresses one of the questions of today in terms of houses and jobs for people and making the lives of people better," he said.

Healy said there were few sites in England which had the size and scale of Metro Riverside, and likened it to the regeneration of areas of Manchester in recent years.

"Everybody's boats have been lifted in Manchester," he said. "I know that's what we can do in the North East."

Last year, the government announced plans to deliver thousands of social and affordable homes across the region, allocating an expected £1.1bn under a new programme. Since it took power in July 2024, it has also invested in AI growth zones in Northumberland and North Tyneside.

Metro Riverside has been designed around the 20-minute city concept - an urban planning model where residents can meet most of their daily needs within walking distance of their home.

This means essentials - such as shops, schools, healthcare services, community spaces, leisure and cultural areas, and sports facilities - will all be based within the development.

"It's not a case of having to get the train into Newcastle to see a doctor, which is crazy - it'll all be on site," Healy said.

The businessman said the River Tyne will be made into a feature of the new neighbourhood and elements of nature will be incorporated into Metro Riverside's design.

With 4,500 homes being built and 11,000 people potentially set to move to the area, infrastructure will also need to be improved.

The Metrocentre already has a bus terminal and train station, but the early designs acknowledge improvements will need to be made to meet the increased demand.

The plans also aim to reduce car trips by increasing walking and cycling, however, the site's location next to the A1 may also put pressure on the existing road network.

In its vision document for the scheme, the public-private partnership (PPP) said the housing development could be completed by 2045, but suggested further work - including extending the Tyne and Wear Metro to the site - could take place after this date.

For now, the PPP is planning to spend £3m and the next two years to establish whether the project is feasible, which involves finding investors willing to finance it.

Healy said he believed the government would invest in Metro Riverside in a similar way to how it has backed the Forth Yard development in Newcastle.

But, he said the Gateshead project had one major benefit over other schemes - a shopping centre with an annual footfall of 16 million.

"This is Metro Riverside - it's got an existing anchor, it's not a blank canvas," he said.

"There's already an existing economic activity there that can be built on and can generate value for the region."

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