The Elswick Riverside Masterplan aims to transform the area into an active, inviting, and well-connected space by realizing its riverside location near Newcastle City Centre. The plan proposes several projects over multiple years including creating a riverside park, improving community facilities, enhancing the built environment, developing residential and commercial spaces, and improving connectivity and pedestrian access. A monitoring system will track the plan's success in achieving the vision and priorities around increasing visitors, housing, and usage of new amenities. Funding may come from public, governmental, European, voluntary, and private sources.

1. ELSWICK RIVERSIDE MASTERPLAN active, inviting and well-connected area,
realising its riverside location close to
Public Realm Improvement
Basketball
Centre
Riverside Park
Conference Centre
Proposed Residential Development
Retail Offering
New Arena
Redesign of Cruddas
Park Shopping Centre
Reclad Cruddas Tower
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Riverside Park
Urban boulevard
Cycle and Pedestrian
Route
Extended Quay Link Bus Route
Context & Policy Background
The Elswick Riverside Masterplan area lies to the south west of Newcastle City
Centre, with the River Tyne providing its southern boundary.
Elswick has been the subject of many
regeneration attempts in the past, and
this provides a good body of research
as well as enabling us to learn from pre-
vious missed opportunities when devis-
ing a spatial strategy for the area. The
area has a long history of industrial uses
character.
Large residential areas of Elswick were
demolished during the 1950s which resulted in a modern high rise residential
scheme of 10 towers. By the 1980s the area had become the focus of criminal ac-
tivity and once again gained a negative reputation across the city.
Demographics:
Low homeownership and high density living
High unemployment and low education
Poor health and obesity
Ethnic diversity
Land use is mixed within the strategy area with a number of vacant sites, available
river frontage, contaminated land, strong commercial sector and well-contained
residential areas located next to community facilities.
Policy:
National (NPPF): development focussed on sustainable development: economic
growth, brownfield sites, high quality design, delivering housing and restoring
local facilities.
Local (Draft One Core Strategy and Urban Core Area Action Plan; Unitary De-
velopment Plan; Newcastle in 2021 Regeneration Strategy): sporting facilities
transport.
Priority 1: Create high quality green spaces, sports and
recreation facilities
Open spaces for recreation and leisure are essential in urban localities, where gar-
den size may be reduced and access to green space is limited. In areas of poor
health and economic prosperity, with reduced opportunity to partake in sporting ac-
tivities, this type of informal space is essential for an active lifestyle. Parkland also
offers creative opportunities, to include all members of diverse communities and
encourage community bonding and enjoyment of the outdoors.
Key Issue(s):
Lack of high quality public green space,
play and recreational areas
Proposed Projects:
Creating a multi-use riverside park and landscaping along the river front
Create a green park with adequate recreation facilities such as outdoor sporting
facilities, fitness equipment area and cycle paths and landscaping.
Park will become a key asset which can take advantage of the riverside views.
Resident-generated local initiatives develop activities and creative tools to
describe this in the landscape, such as community gardening, sculpture and
multi-cultural identity
Strategic Priority 2: Enhance and develop community
services and facilities
Community facilities are often located at the hub of local activity and service provi-
sion, with the ability to bring communities together and provide meaningful opportu-
by improving the offering to residents.
Key Issue(s):
Low building quality, uninviting, large per-
centage of empty units including empty
shops and closed services, little permeability
between the interior and exterior, and poorly
lit areas and corridors.
Proposed Projects:
Modernisation of Cruddas Park Shopping Centre
The West End Retail Study (2006) proposed Cruddas Park as a suitable location
for a satellite store to lead retail regeneration of the centre and increase
convenience offer and footfall, and encourage new businesses to move in.
Currently, a number of council services are located within the centre, which
could be synthesized and retained within one larger unit to save on running
costs and make it easier for visitors. It is proposed that the retail units will be
flexibly designed to allow for a number of uses, to ensure sustainability for now
and the future of the centre.
Redevelopment of the centre with a new open and modern design. Design
should allow easy movement and visibility between the inside and outside of the
play area.
Strategic Priority 3: Improve the quality and appearance of
the built environment and public realm
Good design is essential for creating desirable places, where residents and local
can be proud of their homes, communities and landscapes. It has the ability to at-
tract new people into an area and create new destinations within cities. For resi-
dents, design can help feelings of safety, security and improve the quality of life for
all through improved access to the street and community areas.
Key Issue(s):
Much open land in the site is inaccessible,
rundown and littered
The 2012 Resident Survey identified the area as
unclean and untidy streetscapes and public
Lack of support and accessibility for disabled
residents.
Proposed Projects:
Public Realm Improvements
improved lighting and better accessibility for disabled and elderly people.
Improve street furniture and landscaping to encourage the use of empty spaces
and enhance visibility of the community.
Repairs to broken features and derelict areas will improve the quality of place
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location
There is a large amount of unused brownfield land in the study area which should
be prioritised for development. The development of local attractions will serve not
only to retain residents but bring in new populations and continue the growth and
improvement of the area.
Key Issue(s):
Underveloped ex-industrial land
Industrial land acting as barriers to the
riverside frontage
Proposed Projects:
Regional Convention Centre and Hotel
To cater for a much larger delegate capacity then existing regional and local of-
ferings. This location will maximise the potential of the river frontage, and pro-
vide opportunities for a landmark building to enhance the experience of the river-
side.
A link between the conference centre and Central Station should be provided to
take advantage of the national rail and airport linkage.
Delivering Residential development
The site offers excellent riverside views, proximity to Central Station and the ur-
ban core, at an affordable price to provide opportunity for home ownership for a
range of buyers.
The site could accommodate somewhere in the region of 500-700 residential
units.
Rebuilding the Arena and developing retail offering
Build a new and more attractive Arena between Railway Street and Scotswood
Road to encourage new ventures, clients and services.
Opportunity for convenience retail development on the pocket of land between
Plummer Street and St James Boulevard.
Strategic Priority 5: Improve Connectivity and Pedestrian
Movement
A key asset to the functioning of any city is transport and ensuring it provides the
most efficient means of accessing different areas of the city is essential.
Key Issue(s):
A number of barriers exist in the form of busy
main roads, which limit pedestrian movement
and safety.
Proposed Projects:
Improving Pedestrian Safety and Permeability along Scotswood Road
Transform the route into an inviting and attractive urban boulevard
Create safer environments for pedestrians through high quality pedestrian cross-
ings, and traffic calming measures
Addition of multiple crossing points along the road
Transform disused rail tracks into a cycle and pedestrian pathway
Create a connection route to the new parkland area as well as linking it to the
city centre.
Addition of modern street furniture and landscaping to link with new parkland.
Addition of bike storage close to Central Station as well as near the new park.
New extended Quay Link bus route will offer future residents of the proposed
housing development and future users of the new parkland to access this area
quickly and cheaply.
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Year 0
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Year 1 !
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Implementation Timeline
This timeline shows the phasing of key
proposals!
Monitoring & Funding
A robust monitoring system will be put in place to record the success of the Elswick Riverside
Masterplan in achieving the strategy vision and strategic priorities. Efficient project monitoring
will enable a clear auditable trail of successful outcomes to be reported to funders in order to
achieve targets and measurable outcomes. Targets include increasing visitors and pedestrian
access to the area, home ownership, aesthetic standards and usage of facilities.
A number of suggested funding sources have been identified from various public sector,
governmental, European, voluntary and private sector organisations:
Year 2 Year 3 Year 4