Plans to redevelop car park approved

Durham City Council has given planning permission for the £25m redevelopment of the Walkergate car park below the city's £30m Millennium City complex that includes the £14m Gala Theatre.

Developer Amec, responsible for the transformation of Newcastle's Quayside, plans to build a 94-bed hotel, six pub/restaurants, a bar, 35 apartments and a 500-space multi-storey car park.

Amec said the development would create 250 construction jobs and 300 jobs in new businesses.

Previous versions of the development included plans for a multiplex cinema - which never materialised. The possibility of a regional outpost of the National Portrait Gallery also appears to be a non-starter.

Work on the development, which will connect with Millennium City, is expected to start in September and take about 18 months.

Walkergate is part-funding Millennium City, which cost about £2m more than originally planned.

The council's environmental services director, John Jennings, said people would be able to walk from the new development or travel in lifts up to Millennium City.

"One of the lifts will be a glass lift offering panoramic views," he said.

"In an ideal world, Walkergate would have finished at the same time as Millennium City, but because of economic circumstances beyond our control, it didn't happen. But we are pretty excited that the development now has planning permission.''

The idea of a regional branch of the National Portrait Gallery had been the subject of discussions that were interrupted by the gallery appointing a new director. But Mr Jennings said a shift in Government policy had killed off the idea.

"There has been a change in Government thinking so that we should be thinking about travelling exhibitions. The funds aren't there for building regional outlets,'' he said.

The council is planning to use riverside fields at The Sands as a replacement car park until the Walkergate multi-storey comes into operation - a move which has angered residents.