Levelling Up Fund bids

We made bids for Levelling Up Fund (LUF) funding for four ambitious projects to help support economic recovery across Newcastle.

Bids of up to £20 million per scheme could be made for regeneration and town centre investment, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets.

Each council could submit one bid for every MP constituency they have within their boundary, and there was a requirement to provide a minimum of 10 percent match funding.

Our bids were for:

• Grainger Market and Old Eldon Square
• outer west leisure services
• the north bank of the River Tyne
• Tyne Bridge restoration

We were successful with the bids to fund Grainger Market and Old Eldon Square, and outer west leisure services.

Grainger Market and Old Eldon Square

A £20 million bid to secure the future of two of the city’s most iconic and treasured assets was successfully submitted to the Levelling Up Fund.

The Grainger Market and Old Eldon Square will benefit from significant investment, dramatically improving the quality of the Grainger Town area.

As well as preserving these much-loved cultural assets and ensuring they continue to play a vital role in the city’s future, the funding will also improve the environment and connectivity in the city centre.

Read more about the Grainger Market and Old Eldon Square LUF bid.

This bid was submitted with support of Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central:

I would like to express my full support for Newcastle City Council's application for levelling up funding for Old Eldon Square/Grainger Market.

I am confident that this proposal brings investment right into the heart of our community and local economy. The Grainger Market is a unique, Grade 1 listed building that is highly valued by both residents and visitors to the city, it has the opportunity to showcase the rich trade in the city. Old Eldon Square/Blackett Street are at the core of the city centre and investment in their connectivity and environment will deliver a world class public space that celebrates the life and culture of the city.

The Covid crisis has accelerated changes in our high street and magnified the importance of local centres. This funding will allow the council to design and deliver a 21st century offer in the heart of the 19th Century heritage. It will both protect and create thousands of new city centre jobs and support Newcastle to build back better.

The bid submitted by Newcastle City Council has widespread support from city stakeholders and given the impact this bid could bring to local residents, businesses and future development in the area, I wish to make clear my full support for this application and the opportunity it represents to level up Newcastle upon Tyne.

I am confident that the measures will make a real difference to people and places in the City and across the whole of the North East.

The full bid is available at:

• Levelling Up Fund bid - Grainger Town (pdf 1.1mb)

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. To request the file in an accessible format please email our city centre team.

Outer west leisure facility

An £19.8 million bid was submitted to support the development of a new leisure facility in the outer west of Newcastle.

The state-of-the-art net zero facility will offer a new sports hall, swimming pool, gym, café, library and space for community use to consolidate and revitalise the provisions of the existing sports centre and now-closed West Denton pool.

The project will see us and our leisure partner, GLL, contribute a combined £3m in matched funding.

Read more about the outer west leisure services LUF bid.

This bid was submitted with support of Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle North:

I would like to express my full support for Newcastle City Council's application for levelling up funding to provide Leisure Facilities in West Newcastle.

The recent closure of West Denton swimming pool due to the financial impact of Covid was a real loss to residents in the outer west. Despite significant local efforts to secure the future of the pool, refurbishing the existing 60-year-old facility with its outdated plant and heating system proved too costly.

Residents in the West of Newcastle deserve access to high-quality sport and leisure facilities. This bid proposes the development of a new leisure facility in the outer west.

Access to leisure facilities has a vital role to play in facilitating good health – and will help to create long term healthy behaviours, which can in turn reduce the burden on local NHS Trusts to manage the symptoms of preventable health conditions. The new facility in the Outer West would offer a much needed opportunity to increase health and wellbeing of residents in the city.

A healthier city is both a great asset and a great investment. There is significant public support for this bid and given the impact this facility could bring to local residents, health and wellbeing I wish to make clear my full support for this application and the opportunity it represents to level up Newcastle upon Tyne.

The full bid is available at:

• Levelling Up Fund bid - Outer West leisure services (pdf 1.7mb)

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. To request the file in an accessible format please email our outer west leisure centre project team.

North bank of the River Tyne

Newcastle City Council unsuccessfully bid for just over £17m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund to support the Tyne-based offshore and subsea industries.

The sector currently employs around 2,800 people and contributes £139m annually to the regional economy.

The bid would have helped to not only safeguard existing operations into the future but attract further inward investment and new employment opportunities.

Read more about our north bank of the Tyne LUF bid.

This bid was supported by Nick Brown, MP for Newcastle East:

I would like to express my full support for Newcastle City Council's application for levelling up funding for the River Tyne.

The River Tyne is an important economic corridor and is home to globally significant businesses in the Offshore Energy Sector. Securing and expanding the offshore industries is critical to the UK’s future economic success.  However, this growth is threatened by the contamination of the Tyne from historical mining in the high Pennines. Levelling up funding will deliver an urgently needed River Tyne Restoration Facility which will be used to contain contaminated sediment that is being washed into operational berths when there are high river flows.  Without funding, the berth downstream of Walker Quay will cease to be viable. In addition to capital investment, it is critical that Government support is also secured for both the operating model and the long-term liabilities for this project.

The impact of investing in the River Tyne is significant – this proposal will accelerate job growth as well as safeguard the economic importance of the River Tyne for the future. It will safeguard over 2,800 jobs in Newcastle and as the Port of Tyne’s recent economic impact assessment shows 14,000 direct and indirect jobs are reliant on Port related activity.

Levelling up Funding will also be used to develop a strategic site, adjacent to the River Tyne. Woodside Avenue, located in Neptune Energy Park (an Enterprise Zone) is currently not a viable development. Once developed the site would create a 1.75 hectare developable area and reclamation of this site will create a developable platform to attract a business in the Offshore Energy Sector.  Based on conservative estimates 60 gross jobs will be created.

Both projects within the River Tyne bid will contribute to our sectoral strengths in offshore, subsea and energy. Given the impact this bid could bring to the offshore energy sector,  local residents, businesses and future development in the area, I wish to make clear my full support for this application and the opportunity it represents to level up Newcastle upon Tyne.

I am confident that the measures will make a real difference to people and places in the City and across the whole of the North East.

Tyne Bridge restoration

A bid for £17.72 million was submitted to completely refurbish the grade II* listed Tyne Bridge, with the council offering just under £2 million in match funding.  The bid was unsuccessful.

With the bridge approaching its centenary in 2028, we were keen to source funding as the bridge needs a long overdue major maintenance programme, which includes the sizeable task of painting it, as well as upgrading many parts of this ageing structure.

Read more about our Tyne Bridge restoration LUF bid.

This bid has been backed by political leaders and MPs from across the region , including all three Newcastle MPs. 

Other backing for our bids

The four Newcastle bids to the Government's Levelling Up Fund also received the support and backing of other key stakeholders in the city, including:

• NE1
• NGI
• Port of Tyne
• Hanro
• Newcastle College Group
• Ward Haddaway
• DWF Law LLP