Boost for multi-million pound bid to clean up River Tyne and protect thousands of jobs

Newcastle City Council wants to build a new facility at Bill Point, in Walker, capable of holding up to 250,000 tonnes of contaminated materials from mine waste to be dredged up from the riverbed.

The River Tyne Restoration Facility (RTRF), a large storage bund to be built into the riverside, is intended to improve the environmental state of the river and ensure that it remains navigable for large vessels sailing to and from offshore and subsea industries like Shepherd Offshore. 

The bund scheme was awarded £19.4 million from the Levelling Up Fund under the previous Tory government – cash which has subsequently been reconfirmed by Labour despite Whitehall spending cuts and which the council has now formally approved entering into a grant agreeing to receive.

It is now hoped that the RTRF, which should last 25 years and once filled will become part of the riverbank at Bill Point, will become operational in 2026.

Labour councillor Dan Greenhough, the city council’s cabinet member for economy, jobs, and skills, said: “I am delighted that the funding for the River Tyne Restoration Facility has been approved. We can now move forward to complete design work, appoint a development contractor, and submit a planning application.

“This facility will assist in alleviating the effect of historic mining contamination, improve the coastal ecosystem and safeguard the operational reach of the river, protecting businesses and jobs that rely on the river. We hope that construction of the facility will begin early next year, and it will be operational in 2026.”

The council says that dredging of the river is essential to the business based along it, which are responsible for an estimated 3,700 direct and 110,000 indirect jobs which the council says are “put at risk” by the contaminated sediment washing downstream.

A local authority report says that disposing of the dredged materials at sea at a cost of £5 per tonne is currently a cost-effective means of dealing with it, but that sediment containing high levels of heavy metal contaminants must instead be sent to landfill at an “unviable” £200 per tonne cost.

It is stated that the RTRF, which will also see a section of the river channel at Bill Reach deepened to intercept sediment as it migrates downstream, will save 825,516kg worth of carbon emissions by removing operations associated with the treatment and transportation of contaminated sediment to landfill.

The report adds: “The businesses that utilise the Tyne are a key contributor to the local economy and rely upon a free-flowing river to remain competitive in the global market.  The contaminated sediment within the Tyne represents a major risk to the ongoing viability of these businesses, particularly the licences obtained from the Marine Management Organisation that are required to keep the berths operational.

“The proposal’s principal outcome is to safeguard the operational reach of the Tyne from historic contamination which, if left unmitigated, will affect the viability of the Tyne as a centre for various sectors including the offshore energy and subsea sectors.”