The struggling city’s big £36m excessive road transformation challenge | UK | News | EUROtoday

A serious growth challenge is about to save lots of a struggling UK city. The challenge, costing £36million, will see the creation of recent group and occasion areas in a bid to draw extra folks to the city’s declining excessive road.

Stockton-on-Tees, in Durham, has confronted declining footfall and store closures lately. However, the regeneration challenge, which started in 2024 and is now reaching its last phases, is hoped to remodel the world right into a vacation spot with extra customer enchantment.

As reported by the BBC, the main waterfront growth is centred round creating a big city park that hyperlinks the excessive road to the River Tees. It includes the demolition of the previous Castlegate Shopping Centre and Swallow Hotel.

The city park shall be 3 times the scale of Trafalgar Square. It will characteristic a big oval for occasions, three play areas and numerous heritage options.

A big, terraced amphitheatre is being put in within the park, together with a curved seating and central stage space. Meanwhile, the city’s fundamental buying space shall be in Wellington Square and the northern finish of the excessive road.

Councillor Richard Egglington stated he hoped the challenge would “turn the High Street back into a destination centre”. However, the closure of the Castlegate Shopping Centre for the park growth has brought on disruption for native companies whereas the closure of Riverside Road has led to site visitors delays within the space.

Claire Church runs the Remember Me Tea Room subsequent to the development website. The work has impacted her enterprise however she hopes that it’s going to result in a greater future.

She stated: “I have to hope and be positive that this will make things better, the old high street model doesn’t work any more. People stopped visiting and shops left, maybe this is a new way to improve things. We have to try new things”.