This demolition threatens 13 local small businesses, and our town’s future!

Sign up and tell North Tyneside council we say no to this demolition, yes to supporting and growing our community of local small businesses and artisans and the clean up and repair of our town.

Right when the trends towards shopping local and small businesses are growing, and big chains are disappearing from even city centres, our Council have plans, not to clean up and repair our battered, neglected little town, preparing it for this change, even helping fill its empty spaces, but to knock it down. (North Shields Town Centre Master plan, June 2020. Website “Regeneration /North Tyneside. Ambition for North shields. Section 3. New Town Square Railway st. Nile St.”)

“The Demolitions required will remove…. lower valued accommodation in the town.(section 3. Challenges to be addressed.) i.e. those with affordable rents for small businesses, which allows them to keep their prices to us down. Instead, they hope it will force those of them who survive the upheaval, to accept the more expensive rents of the few empty shops left.

This is to make way for a bleak bit of concrete / fancy paving venue, dubiously called a “town square” for a handful of occasional tat stalls in the summer, rather than keeping the 13 thriving small businesses which currently reside in what remains of the handsome, stone built, original station buildings, amongst others. They include: the South Gosforth greengrocers; our home-grown, award winning, pork butchers, Hoults; and our Mother Nature, herbalist and food supplement shop.

They also want to get rid of the very long standing shops and studios along Albion Rd, which includes the region’s renowned stained glass studio, and thriving Thompson Art shop( picture and mirror framer etc which has been there since the 60’s.) and of course, Camden fires, the heating and fireplace shop. ( Masterplan section 8 paragraph 3 and 4)

Their reasons? To make the town “more vibrant” ???

It’ll certainly remove what’s left of North Shield’s individuality, and make it a sterile, bleak, small-town clone of every other “developed” small town, with no artisans and small businesses to grow a future or jobs with.