Ambition for Wallsend

North Tyneside Council has an ambitious vision for Wallsend as a vibrant and connected place that is attractive to residents, visitors and businesses.

The Ambition for Wallsend was first presented to Cabinet in March 2022 - it was approved around three policy priorities

• Improve the quality of the housing offer in Wallsend; in particular making the area a focus of the Mayor and Cabinet’s plans for 5000 affordable homes and tackling some of the poor quality privately rented housing in the area;

• Make the town centre and the nearby neighbourhoods great places to visit and live; improving the street scene, public spaces and working with partners to make sure people feel safe; and

• Make sure Wallsend residents are connected to good jobs; using the full range of tools, including adult education, apprenticeships and the capabilities plus the transport infrastructure around the town to make sure people in the community, who need it, are supported to improve their life chances.

A draft plan was then developed which was approved (for consultation) by Cabinet on 28 November 2022. You can view the report here. 

Consultation on the draft plan took place in early 2023 and the results of this engagement exercise were reported to the 22 May 2023 Cabinet.

Opportunities to view the ambition and comment were available both digitally and face to face. 176 comments were received in total with the majority coming via a digital engagement portal.

Overall, the responses received across all platforms were broadly positive and generally gave support to the proposals contained in the plans.

The exception was Project 6: Housing Streetscape Improvements where the main concern was the loss of on street parking, as such there may be little appetite for and buy in from residents if the Council was to pursue proposals that did not cater for current levels of on street parking. As with any schemes that include changes to road space, footways and active travel routes meaningful engagement with residents and businesses will be required before being introduced. Cabinet decided that Project 6: Housing Streetscape Improvements should be amended therefore in the final masterplan so that on street parking continues to be accommodated.

The 22 May 2023 Cabinet delegated powers to officers to approve the final version of the Masterplan and this decision was taken on 19 July 2023. The report can be seen here.

The Ambition for Wallsend is made up of 14 different projects.

Project 1 – Wallsend Town Square

Project 2 – High Street West, High Street East and Station Road

Project 3 – Segedunum World Heritage Site Gateway

Project 4 – The Forum

Project 5 – Bus & Metro Station

Project 6 – Housing Streetscape Improvements

Project 7 – Housing Development (New Build & Refurbishment)

Project 8 – Cycle Corridors

Project 9 – Segedunum Transformation

Project 10 – Segedunum Linkages

Project 11 – Historic Buildings & Conservation

Project 12 – Business Support

Project 13 – Employment Support

Project 14 – Events & Animation

You can find details on all the projects within the draft Ambition for Wallsend document below. 

As part of our work to turn Wallsend into a vibrant and connected place, we are soon set to start work on the creation of an active travel route in the town centre.

This will create a safe, active travel route in Wallsend, improving access for pedestrians and cyclists between Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum and Wallsend High Street. It will improve access for families, pushchairs, wheelchairs, bikes, scooters and all active travel modes of transport.

The work will involve:

• Footpath improvements along the route on Wooley Street, and Maude Gardens that connects High Street West to the A187 Buddle Street.
• New crossing points on Buddle Street - this will take pedestrians and cyclists to the Segedunum site and connects to the National Cycle Route (NCN 72).
• A new crossing point at Wallsend Bus Station.
• Upgrading the landscaping areas in Wallsend Bus Station.

The works will be carried out by North Tyneside Council’s strategic partner Capita.

When the works start, a contraflow system and temporary traffic lights will be in place on the A197 Buddle Street/Station Road junction at all times, until the project is complete.

Bus stops will not be affected by the works, however due to the temporary traffic lights we expect there to be delays during peak times, we apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused during the works, we will work closely with bus providers to minimise this impact.

Local pedestrian diversions will be in place close to the works area, please follow on site signage. 

North Tyneside Council has already secured a grant of £1.94m through the Towns and High Streets Innovation Programme from the North of Tyne Combined Authority. This grant is for initiatives that will support business activity in and around the town centre including business support, shop front grants, improved walking and cycling routes between Segedunum and the town centre and events.  

We also secured funding from the North of Tyne Combined Authority to develop the Working Well Hub in the Wallsend Customer First Centre.

We also submitted a bid asking for £19m from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund in August 2022, unfortunately we were advised on 19 January 2023 that this had not been successful.

We and our partners will continually look to identify grants to help us in funding the projects in the masterplan for example we are considering funding options for Segedunum and watching out for Government announcements on the third round of its Levelling Up Fund.  

In addition to the consultation exercise in early 2023 residents, businesses and others will be engaged with about individual projects as they are developed and designed.  

Tel: (0191) 643 1441

Email: AmbitionW@northtyneside.gov.uk 

Facebook page: Ambition for Wallsend

Twitter: @NTCouncilTeam