Locals have called for a new vision for a “neglected” Newcastle riverside plot, after time ran out to start construction work on a gigantic ferris wheel.
Planning permission for the £100m Whey Aye project lapsed on Friday, following years of uncertainty over whether the ambitious scheme to build Europe’s tallest observation wheel on Tyneside would ever go ahead. That has left the future of the former Spillers flour mill site in question, with Newcastle City Council declining to comment this week on what might come next for the vacant land and developers the World Wheel Company still said to be “considering a number of options” to deliver their Giants on the Quayside leisure complex.
The disused plot, which lies between the Ouseburn and St Peter’s Basin, is jointly owned by the council and Homes England. Residents of St Peter’s, who were staunchly opposed to the Whey Aye from the outset and sceptical of its chances of success, have now called for a fresh start for the area.
Read More: Time runs out on Newcastle's giant Whey Aye wheel as planning permission expires
Jon Bryan, who chairs the St Peter's Neighbourhood Association, said: "Opposition to the Whey Aye wheel in St Peter's is well known. We organised a meeting of local residents and businesses when the proposals were first made public. It was our best attended meeting by far. Opposition to the proposals was overwhelming and we made these views clear at the Newcastle City Council planning meeting at the time.
"When these proposals were first considered a few years ago, we were disappointed that local representative groups like ours were not involved. The riverside site where the wheel was planned to be situated has been neglected for far too long. Let's hope that the council now facilitates a plan for its use which has local support through proper consultation."
Byker Labour councillor Veronica Dunn was, alongside the now council leader Nick Kemp, another long-term critic of the wheel, which she called “cheap and nasty” when it was given approval in 2019.
Coun Dunn, who is currently the city’s lord mayor, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Friday: “We were always of the view that that site ought to be something that is for the city as a whole – that space is along the river and everybody should benefit. It has been empty for a long time but whatever it is used for now has to be appropriate and has to be wanted and supported.”
The old Spillers Mill was a prominent feature along the banks of the Tyne for decades and a reminder of the area’s industrial heritage, before it was bulldozed in 2011. Liberal Democrat Gareth Kane, from the neighbouring Ouseburn ward, agreed that the site now needs “something more appropriate”, having opposed the original scheme because of the light pollution that the wheel’s advertising screen would have caused for people living around the Quayside.
As well as the 460ft observation wheel, the Giants on the Quayside would have featured a 39ft human-shaped statue called The Geordie Giant, a virtual golf club, and a family entertainment centre. Developers had hailed it as a potentially “world famous” attraction that would deliver hundreds of jobs.
But it suffered a series of setbacks blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has had on the global economy, particularly the construction sector. The World Wheel Company said this week: “Although planning permission for our proposed development lapses on June 23, we are still considering a number of options that will allow us to deliver Giants on the Quayside.”
