Tyne Bridge restoration won’t be ‘quality we would expect’ if Government U-turns on £6m promise
The Tyne Bridge will not be restored "to the quality we would expect" if the Government fails to stump up a further GBP6 million promised for the works. Leaders on Tyneside are growing increasingly frustrated at the ongoing doubt surrounding undelivered funding[1] for the North East icon's repairs. While the Department for Transport[2] (DfT) has put an initial GBP35.2 million towards the huge maintenance project, which began in April this year, Labour[3] has failed to commit to honouring a pledge made under the Tories[4] to meet 100% of the refurbishment's costs since it came to power.
An extra GBP6.2 million was promised to cover the entire GBP41.4 million bill for renovating both the bridge and the Central Motorway, after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped the northern leg of HS2. But Labour has put that final piece of funding under review, having accused the Tories of leaving behind GBP2.9 billion of "unfunded" transport commitments. Councillors were told on Monday afternoon that local authority officials were still waiting to find out whether the cash would be coming or not.
At a meeting of Newcastle and Gateshead[5] councils' Joint Bridges Committee, Newcastle Liberal Democrat Pauline Allen asked how the restoration scheme would suffer if its funding was reduced and what local Labour politicians were doing to lobby the Government. Alex Hay, Labour's deputy leader of Newcastle City Council[6] replied that without the last GBP6.2 million the standard of the refurbishment will not be completed "to the level we want it to be". As it stands, engineers believe that the four-year project is on track to be finished in summer 2028 - just in time for the Tyne Bridge's 100th anniversary in October of that year.
Coun Hay said: "I do think it is absolutely vital that us politicians, as well as officers, use every lever we have available to us to put pressure on the Government to release the extra GBP6.2 million we need. It is to complete the restoration to the quality we would expect it to be completed to and to ensure that every piece of work necessary is carried out, in order to mark the centenary [in 2028] and ensure that the structure is brought back to the level we would hope it to be at. "The leader of the council and myself have written to the new Secretary of State for Transport [Heidi Alexander] to invite her to visit the Tyne Bridge.
We are working with Kim McGuinness to put pressure on the DfT on the political side of things to come to the region to see the Tyne Bridge, the work carried out so far, and the extent of the work still required on that front." Ms Alexander's predecessor, Louise Haigh, announced in the summer that she was commissioning a review of her department's capital spend portfolio in light of the alleged GBP2.9 billion of "unfunded transport commitments" made under the Conservatives. Engineers have already identified more than 1,000 repairs that need to be carried out on the Tyne Bridge, which had not undergone any major maintenance for more than 20 years.
As well as a full repaint, the rusted crossing is in need of a large number of essential structural fixes - including to its steelwork, concrete, and waterproofing.
Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community
Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community[7] for all the latest news direct to your phone. To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you're curious, you can read our privacy notice[8].
References
- ^ ongoing doubt surrounding undelivered funding (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
- ^ Transport (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
- ^ Labour (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
- ^ failed to commit to honouring a pledge made under the Tories (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
- ^ Gateshead (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
- ^ Newcastle City Council (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)
- ^ Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community (chat.whatsapp.com)
- ^ privacy notice (www.reachplc.com)
- ^ CLICK HERE TO JOIN (chat.whatsapp.com)