Shipping containers could be installed near a local landmark to provide workspace for charity staff.
Plans have been lodged with Gateshead Council to put six containers split between two sites near Dunston Staiths.
If the plans are given the go-ahead five containers will be installed on an area of opposite Dunston Excelsior Club on Staiths Road that is currently being used for parking.
The site, used by local businesses, dogwalkers and people visiting Staiths and Saltmarsh Gardens, has been described as an “informal carpark” by a design and access statement lodged with the council.
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It said that the parking space isn’t run by the authority or a private company.
It said: “There is informal parking for 25 cars, though with application of typical parking standards, including designated accessible spaces. It would be expected that this capacity would decrease considerably.”
The containers on that patch of land will comprise of a two to three person office for Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust, a four to five person meeting room for the charity as well as a general store or kiosk.
Another container will be used to create a public toilet with unisex cubicles with the final one being described as a “flexible concession kiosk unit to be operated independently with scope to vary use/function over time.”
Meanwhile on the second site, on the Lower Deck of the staiths, a container will be delivered to be used as an visitor reception area for Friends of the Staiths.
The statement said: “The proposed scheme has the aim of creating new, flexible spaces to serve as a visitor hub and staff base for the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust, the provision of storage and toilet facilities, and the installation of a kiosk to serve as an information point directly at the main visitor gate and entrance to the landmark.
“The container units will be retrofitted and upgraded off-site, then installed in their proposed location, providing instant facilities to serve the organisation and the wider public, without the need for a lengthy construction period.”
The North Eastern Railway Company began the construction of Dunston Staiths in 1890, with the first one opening in 1893 and the second a decade later.
The 520m (1,709ft)-long structure, believed to be the largest of its kind in Europe, played a crucial role in the transportation of millions of tons of North East coal from the River Tyne.
The coal would arrive by rail from numerous pits around County Durham, then be loaded on to ships and sailed in huge quantities to London and the continent.
Gateshead Council is expected to decide on the proposals in February.
