East Quayside Development, Tyne and Wear (Hansard, 13 June 1991)

§ Mr. Nicholas Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (I) when the Tyne and Wear urban development corporation first entered into any legal or binding agreement in respect of the East Quayside development; with whom these agreements were made and on what terms; what is their current status and when this altered; and what is the current position of the corporation with respect to receiving tenders for this development;

(2) on what date Tyne and Wear urban development corporation carried out a full financial investigation into the financial standing of NQD plc in relation to the selection of a preferred developer of East Quayside; what guaranteees were sought from NQD as to its ability to continue the development after the collapse of Stanley Miller; and what steps were taken to monitor the accounts of NQD over the past three years;

(3) when was the last time that a financial check was made on the preferred developer for the Tyne and Wear urban development corporation East Quayside project;

(4) when the Tyne and Wear urban development corporation was first aware that NQD plc was trading while insolvent;

(5) how much money was paid by Tyne and Wear urban development corporation to the successful developer as a contribution for work preceding the competition for the redevelopment at East Quayside; to whom this money was paid; and in what form it was paid;

(6) if he will make a statement on the stages of selection to find the preferred developer for the East Quayside scheme, East Newcastle;

(7) what criteria the Tyne and Wear urban development corporation applied to selecting preferred developers; and how these were applied in assessing the financial status of NQD plc in regard to East Quayside development;

(8) what is the compulsory purchase order price agreed with the district valuer for the seven acre site on East Quayside, Newcastle, formerly owned by Stanley Miller;

(9) what is the current value of the land formerly owned by Stanley Miller on the East Quayside; on what date Stanley Miller transferred ownership of the land to NQD; and how many days then followed before Stanley Miller was in receivership;

(10) if he will name (a) the architects and (b) the engineers who designed the original Godfrey Bradman scheme which was accepted by Tyne and Wear urban 618W development corporation, for the redevelopment of Newcastle Quayside; and whether either are still associated with the project;

(11) what action the chief executive of Tyne and Wear urban development corporation took to seek a partner for Shearwater after Stanley Miller went into receivership;

(12) how many consultants reported findings to the board of Tyne and Wear urban development corporation on the competition for the East Quayside development on (a) financial assessment, (b) hotel advice, (c) quantity surveyors, (d) valuers, (e) retail leisure specialists, (f) design/planning consultants and (g) economic assessment; and where these reports are available for inspection.