Article: published on 12 October 2023

Police have raised concerns over plans for a football "fan zone" created from shipping containers and located directly outside the club's stadium.

Plans for Newcastle United's Stack development were unanimously approved by Newcastle City Council last month.

But Northumbria Police is worried opening a drinking venue with a capacity of 3,000 outside St James's Park will lead to crime and disorder.

Newcastle United Football Club (NUFC) declined to comment.

The development, to be built on a disused car park near St James's Park Metro, will include bars, food outlets, large screens and a music stage set out over two floors, and will be made from 50 shipping containers.

The venue would be open seven days a week and its operators have asked for a licence to sell alcohol daily from 10:00 to midnight.

Councillors are due to decide next week whether to grant the licence.

Documents sent to the authority ahead of the hearing show concerns raised by Northumbria Police, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Supt Jamie Pitt wrote: “The proposed licensed premises will allow for a concentration of a significant number of patrons to consume alcohol, and in an area that is in the immediate vicinity of St James’ Park."

Supt Pitt said it would have an "impact on the dynamic" of the night-time economy and how drinkers moved around the city.

The venue operator should provide policies and procedures "specifically tailored to the St James’ Stack operation" to address crowd management and the dispersal of drinkers from premises, he stated.

Council licensing manager Jonathan Bryce agreed the proposal “adds to sensitivities” around St James’s Park.

He has asked for more detail on access arrangements for emergency services, and for the operators to “show due regard to possible terrorist or other such risks".

City centre Labour councillors have lodged objections regarding noise and the "significant detrimental impact" on local residents. 

The council’s environmental health department has said it was satisfied noise from the venue could be limited by using a “state-of-the-art sound system”.

NUFC declined to comment but has previously said the fan zone would create 150 jobs and “a host of economic and employment opportunities".

Developers are hoping to open the site in Spring 2024.

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