Plans unveiled for new Newcastle city centre square

  • Tyne Tees
A 3D image to represent how the new public square will look once completed. Credit: Newcastle City Council

Plans for a new £800,000 public square in Newcastle have been unveiled.

The new square in the heart of the city centre will be one of the first things people see when they step off a train and walk out of Newcastle Central Station.

It will have seating and raised planted beds in the area around the Stephenson Monument, at the bottom of Westgate Road, near Central Station.

It has been designed to make better use of the space, creating an area for people to meet, while helping to improve people's first impressions of the city when they arrive by train.

It also includes measures designed to reduce the risk of localised flooding by managing rain water run-off.

Cllr Arlene Ainsley, Cabinet member for transport and air quality at Newcastle City Council, said:

General view of the area around Stephenson Monument which is due to be transformed into a new public square. Credit: Newcastle City Council

Work on the project will be carried out in two stages in order to minimise disruption over the busy Christmas period.

The first phase, which will involve installing a new paved area immediately outside of the Union Rooms and Vita Student buildings, will start on Monday 2 October and is due to be completed in November.

Further paving and the installation of planted beds and seating will take place during the second stage of the works, which will begin in January 2018.

Newcastle City Council and NE1 are leading the project, which has received significant support from Northumbrian Water. The designs for the area have been developed by Southern Green.