5 Bridges Replacement
An evidence-based options study for replacing 5 Bridges Skatepark in Gateshead.
Commissioned by Gateshead Council.
Delivered by Shred The North.
5 Bridges Skatepark closed in 2025, ending more than four decades as the North East's only covered skating destination. Skateboarders had ridden its covered banks since they were built in 1979–80, with BMX riders and bladers joining as those sports grew in the decades that followed; its final eighteen years as a formally adopted plaza were what made it an internationally-known spot, but the site had served as a wheeled-sports destination for its entire life. This study sets out to answer a single question for Gateshead Council: what should replace it, and how should it be delivered?
The study combines site assessments of existing parks and potential new locations, community engagement via survey and interviews, cost analysis, and strategic feasibility work. Its purpose is to recommend a site and a delivery approach that the council can act on.
The study recommends a phased replacement skatepark at Askew Road as the lead approach, with Gateshead Stadium and a Quays car-park conversion positioned as evidence-ready alternatives.
This is the Phase 1 deliverable of the 5 Bridges Options Study, issued to Gateshead Council and published here on 01 July 2026. It carries the full evidence base gathered to date: community engagement (134 survey responses), policy alignment (four locally-adopted documents and one national strategy), assessment of nine Gateshead skateparks, site visits to two of the three shortlisted new-site approaches (Askew Road and Gateshead Stadium), a supplier concept design developed for Askew Road by Betongpark (16 May 2026), eighteen UK and international precedent profiles, and a primary recommendation with two evidence-ready alternatives.
A defined set of Phase 2 inputs remains outstanding — supplier design returns, contractor quotes, planning pre-applications, the Gateshead Stadium and existing-parks site visits, candidate car park identification, and follow-up engagement on the survey's demographic gaps. They are collected in one place — Outstanding Evidence — Phase 2 Inputs — below. They would be taken forward only if the council decides to progress the project and expressly commissions the next stage.
Phase 1 / 2 / 3 cost figures, funding strategy and realistic capital-stack scenarios (Conservative £565k / Achievable £900k / Optimal £1.4M), per-site revenue projections, precedent cost benchmarks, and key cost risks are in the Finance section. Contractor quotes for ground preparation, covering, equipment relocation, arches fit-out, and car-park conversion are scheduled for Phase 2 and will firm up the bracketed working estimates that section currently carries. The scenario totals are targets to aspire to rather than fixed thresholds — not reaching the higher figures is not in itself a blocker to delivery.
Outstanding Evidence — Phase 2 Inputs
This Phase 1 report is built on the evidence gathered through eight weeks of work to date. A defined set of further inputs remains outstanding and would form a Phase 2 if the council progresses the project. They are listed here in one place so council readers and the community can see at a glance what is still to come, what unlocks what, and how each Phase 2 input affects the recommendation. None of these inputs, on the evidence to hand, is expected to overturn the Phase 1 finding; each is a confirmation or refinement step.
Phase 2 is not work already under way. This Options Study is a discrete, commissioned deliverable. The inputs below would be taken forward in a Phase 2 only if Gateshead Council decides to progress the project and expressly commissions the next stage — whether with Shred The North or another delivery partner. On delivery of this study, Shred The North's commissioned work is complete; no continuation is assumed or committed without that decision and a new commission.
1.1 The Legacy of 5 Bridges — archival visuals. Rider testimonials spanning 1979/80–present are integrated into § 1.1, together with two photographs from The Bloody Kids' Book (Shred The North & PlayToon, 2023). Outstanding: media coverage citing 5 Bridges and any plaza-era archival photographs (2007–2025) gathered through the heritage element of the community engagement work. Not a structural input; enriches the existing narrative.
The 134-respondent online survey is closed and analysed and carries the Phase 1 finding. Four follow-up engagement activities are proposed for a Phase 2, if the council progresses the project, to close known demographic gaps (under-18s, women / non-binary skaters, beginners):
- Youth-targeted survey via schools and youth services (target: 50+ under-18 responses).
- Drop-in engagement event at Gateshead town centre or the Quays, with on-site capture.
- 15–20 stakeholder interviews to deepen specific themes.
- Engagement with under-represented groups via Skateboard GB and Sport England North East networks.
- "You told us…" social-media loop-back to share headline findings with the community.
The assessment of all nine Gateshead skateparks is complete and confirms the Phase 1 finding: no existing park can stand-alone replace 5 Bridges. Each park's assessment page carries its full 100-point score, a narrative summary, first-hand Site Context and User Observations, and an aerial location view, and the § 3.4 results table is populated. Outstanding for Phase 2: a photographic record and formal user counts, which enrich the pages but do not change the finding. The 5 Bridges equipment (in council storage) is already confirmed to be in good condition and suitable for direct reuse.
Status by approach:
- Askew Road — site visited (May 2026); concept design integrated from Betongpark (engaged by Shred The North; report dated 16 May 2026, see § 6.1.3). Ownership confirmed: the skatepark plot is council-owned and the seven railway arches are Network Rail-owned; the free-standing scheme does not rely on Network Rail (arch activation is optional later-phase upside). Outstanding: planning pre-application.
- Gateshead Stadium — visited (May 2026), though no photos or footage were collected and no supplier concept was commissioned within the interim study window. Outstanding: full 100-point scoring; confirmation of exact in-complex location and partnership terms with council estates / stadium operations; planning pre-application; supplier concept design would be a next-step deliverable if Stadium is selected.
- Car Park Conversion — approach defined; specific candidate building still to be identified by the council. Once identified: structural condition survey, floor-to-ceiling and column-grid measurements, photo record, change-of-use planning timeline.
The cost-benefit summary, Phase 1 / 2 / 3 cost breakdowns per site, funding strategy and realistic scenarios (Conservative £565k / Achievable £900k / Optimal £1.4M), and revenue projections (Stadium co-location, Askew Road arches) are in § F Finance. Contractor quotes for ground preparation, covering, equipment relocation, arches fit-out, and car-park conversion are scheduled for Phase 2; the bracketed working estimates in that section firm up to quoted figures as the quotes come in.
These scenario totals are figures to aspire to rather than fixed thresholds. They may look high, but the project can and will be shaped around whatever funding can realistically be procured (within reason) — falling short of the higher figures is not in itself a blocker to delivery.
Concept design for Askew Road has been developed by Betongpark and is integrated into § 6.1.3; equivalent supplier concept work for Stadium and the Car Park conversion has not been commissioned within the interim study window and would be a next-step deliverable if the council chooses to pursue either as the preferred option. Full Phase 1 / 2 / 3 Gantt charts with critical-path dependencies and structured risk registers are scheduled per site: outline timelines and key-considerations narratives are in place; the formal Gantt and risk register populate as the planning (and, for the optional arch activation, Network Rail) conversations progress.
The report carries appendices A–H: community engagement data, existing-parks assessment sheets, new-sites assessment sheets, cost estimates and contractor quotes (Phase 2 input), stakeholder consultation notes, precedent research, design concepts, and equipment inventory. Several have working drafts in the project repository. Appendix F (Precedent Research) is published — 18 precedent profiles (8 deep + 10 tail) plus a UK + international precedent map and a build-cost-per-m² benchmark table; each profile now carries embedded venue footage, with press-photo sourcing an optional future addition.
How Phase 2 inputs affect the recommendation. The Phase 1 finding — Askew Road as the lead approach, Gateshead Stadium and a Quays Car Park conversion as evidence-ready alternatives — is the working position. The Askew Road plot is confirmed council-owned, so ownership is not a risk; should planning encounter a substantive constraint, the alternative-recommendation triggers set out in § 7.2 provide an evidence-based pivot route rather than a full restart. Each outstanding input above is a confirmation or refinement step; none, on the evidence to hand, is expected to overturn the Phase 1 finding.