Council withholds £110k over car park dispute

A council is withholding £110,000 of the cost of a car park over claims it is not "fit for use".

The £23m car park was built by Gateshead Council as part of its long-delayed redevelopment scheme along the River Tyne.

It was completed in January 2023 but remains shut to the public, in part due to a dispute between the developers and the local authority.

Gateshead Council said it was confident the car park will open in the autumn. Developers Willmott Dixon have been approached for comment.

As part of major redevelopment plans, an events arena is slated to be built on land between the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and the Glasshouse concert hall.

The Sage complex was originally due to open last year but construction has yet to start and the estimated cost has risen by £90m to more than £350m.

The 1,003-space car park was built as part of the redevelopment plans.

Council leader Martin Gannon previously said the car park was not "fit for use", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In response to a freedom of information (FOI) request, Gateshead Council said it had already paid £22.8m to Willmott Dixon for the construction of the car park but was withholding £110,000 due to a dispute.

It said this was due to various issues, including the fact that water was ponding in the structure which it said would not occur "under best practice guidance".

It said there had been disagreement over who was liable for the "defects", but the developer has now resolved those issues.

Plans to make the car park fully operational have been completed and it will open later this year, a spokesperson said.

The authority also said the car park was a "key piece of infrastructure" that supports "both the existing and future activity" of the area.

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