Gateshead Flyover skate park anger as council urged to keep pledge to find Five Bridges replacement

Gateshead Council closed down the Five Bridges skate park in August last year, due to major safety fears over loose concrete potentially falling from the crumbling highway above it.

Officials pledged at the time to “keep talking to skaters locally about finding them a new home” and accelerate efforts to open an alternative site, but frustration has mounted over a lack of progress since then.

This weekend, the Native Skate Store in Newcastle city centre is releasing a commemorative board to honour the memory of the defunct Five Bridges park, a huge part of the region’s skating scene since the 1970s.

The design, featuring a photograph by local skateboarder Adam Thirtle, was in high demand when it was originally launched in 2024 and 50 more decks are being brought out in a reissue on Skate Shop Day this Saturday, February 21.

Shop worker Jackie Young told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the loss of the Five Bridges Park has had a major negative impact on the North East’s skateboarding community, particularly in the bad weather over the winter months.

He said: “We don’t have an indoor skating facility in Newcastle, the nearest one is in Darlington.

“Bridges was somewhere where you were under cover, protected from the elements. It was somewhere to exercise and also to socialise, to be part of the community. It was free, under cover, and you could go any time of the year.

“With austerity, things have been cut and cut and cut for the last 15 years and there is a lack of facilities for young people today. Five Bridges was the perfect space for kids to go. Mental health is spoken about so much at the moment and exercise is a big part of that.

“There would have been hundreds of people using the space for the last few months. From a selfish point of view in our shop, it has really had an impact on us a local independent business because the number of people skating has fallen off a cliff.”

Jackie and boss David Whitelaw believe that some of the Five Bridges park’s equipment could be relocated relatively easily to a new location.

David added: “The kids are really missing out. It was the one dry spot in the North East to skate when it was raining.”

Gateshead Council was contacted for a response. The local authority told the BBC last month that it was a “challenging environment” to find another site and it would take time to “identify funding”.

Demolition of the A167 flyover itself is due to start soon, once the neighbouring Computer House office block has been removed.

The road has been closed to all traffic since December 2024, when serious concerns emerged about its safety.

Gateshead Council hopes that the flyover’s removal can pave the way for a significant regeneration of the surrounding town centre.