Mayor holds 'constructive' talks over arena plans
BBC"Constructive" talks have been held with a newly-elected Reform-led council about plans to build a new arena, the North East mayor has said.
Plans for the arena have long been in the works at Gateshead quayside but Reform council leader Nick Allen recently described the stadium as a "vanity project".
Labour North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said she had since spoken to Allan and both had agreed something "needed to be done about Gateshead Quays".
But Allan warned his administration would not back the scheme unless the mayor came up with a "better argument and better financial package" for the development.
McGuinness told the North East mayoral authority the modern concert venue "still needed to be delivered" to prevent big acts like Taylor Swift skipping over the North East on their tours.
The mayor said she and Allen had agreed the project had "dragged on for far too long", but an agreement has yet to be reached.
"They [Gateshead Council] were quite clear that no decisions have been made and I am quite clear that what we need to do is push on and deliver the arena that the people of the region and the people of Gateshead deserve," she said.
Allan previously aired a raft of concerns about the project including worries about how people would get to the site and that it could be "inferior" to Newcastle's Utilita Arena, which is to receive £65m worth of upgrades.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Allan said he and McGuinness had agreed to "work together in the interests of the residents of Gateshead".
"No decisions have been made at this point," he said.
"We want what is best for the economic and social development of Gateshead Quays and the borough."
The proposed arena would have a capacity of 15,000 and is earmarked for land between the Glasshouse music centre and Baltic arts centre.
The site has been scaled back to drop a proposed international conference centre.
The council's new deputy leader, Reform's Fiona Pearce, recently said she had used AI to analyse the arena project and found it would be "better value to leave a hole in the ground".
Allan said her comments had been "taken out of context".
