Gateshead Council to bid for £4.5m Lottery fund for work including Dunston Staiths improvement
Gateshead Council is poised to submit a bid for £4.5m of National Lottery funding to enhance a wildlife trail and potentially repair the Dunston Staiths.
Council bosses are likely to approve a multi-million pound application for funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is hoped if the bid is successful, the cash will help fund the Tyne Derwent Way over the next four years.
A winning bid would help secure general improvements to the route and quality of the local environment, secure the repair of the Dunston Staiths, and fund events and programmes along the route.
ChronicleLive reported in April that the reopening of the Staiths was delayed owing to an inspection which revealed damage and decay to the listed structure. They were subsequeently re-opened to the publi for the local ‘Late Shows’ once a “safe route” was indentified by April 14.
Gateshead Council documents state: “The Tyne Derwent Way programme has been a noted success. It has to date been well received by the public and recognised by the Lottery and NECA as contributing to several strategic ambitions around people, place, heritage, nature and health.”
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It has also been proposed to seek match funding from the North East Combined Authority via its Rural Portfolio, however this has been dubbed as “not critical”. The application to the NLHF runs to around 75,000 characters long, with financial details and provisions also required.
The Tyne Derwent Way officially opened on April 22, 2024 following a £1.5m redevelopment of an original walk from Gateshead Quays and Gibside. The complete trail runs nine-miles and stretches from St Mary’s Heritage Centre to Gibside.
Gateshead Council, The Tyne and Wear Preservation Trust as well as Newcastle and Northumbria universities were also involved in the re-imagining of the original path.
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