North Tyneside

The Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, and is part of the Tyneside conurbation. The borough council's main office is at Cobalt Business Park in Wallsend. The local authority is North Tyneside Council.

This article is about the metropolitan borough. For the parliamentary constituency, see North Tyneside (UK Parliament constituency).

North Tyneside
Metropolitan borough
North Tyneside Council Headquarters at Cobalt Business Park
Coat of Arms of the Borough Council
Motto(s): 
We Serve
Location of North Tyneside in England
Coordinates: 55.0123°N 1.5456°W / 55.0123; -1.5456
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryEngland
RegionNorth East
CountyTyne and Wear
Established1 April 1974
Admin HQWallsend
Government
 • TypeMayor and Cabinet
 • BodyNorth Tyneside Council
 • MPsMary Glindon
Alan Campbell
Area
 • Land31.81 sq mi (82.38 km2)
Population
 (2011)
 • Estimate 
(2011)
207,913 (Ranked 89th)
 • Density6,026/sq mi (2,326.5/km2)
 • Ethnicity
(2011 census) [1]
95.1% White British
1.9% Asian
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
Websitewww.northtyneside.gov.uk

North Tyneside is bounded by Newcastle upon Tyne to the west, the North Sea to the east, the River Tyne to the south and Northumberland to the north. Within its bounds are the towns of Wallsend, North Shields, Killingworth and Whitley Bay, which form a continuously built-up area contiguous with Newcastle.

History

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the county borough of Tynemouth, with the borough of Wallsend, part of the borough of Whitley Bay, the urban district of Longbenton and part of the urban district of Seaton Valley, all of which were in Northumberland.

Geography

The following places are located in North Tyneside:

North Tyneside is split by the A19: the west of the borough is more urban, and is mostly contiguous with the city of Newcastle. The towns in the east of the borough are more separate from the central part of the Newcastle urban area. Many of the most affluent neighbourhoods in Tyne and Wear are found in the coastal part of the borough.

Administration and elections

Unlike most English districts, its council is led by a directly elected mayor, currently Labour's Norma Redfearn. As of March 2016, the council is Labour led, Labour having 51 councillors, the Conservatives 7 and the Lib Dems 2.[2]

The council is elected "in thirds", with one councillor from each three-member ward elected each year for the first three years, the mayoral election being held on the fourth year. With three councillors elected from each of 20 wards, there are 60 councillors in total.

For election results see North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council elections.

North Tyneside elects the Mayor of North of Tyne.

Economy

North Tyneside lies in the coalfield that covers the South-East of the historic county of Northumberland. It has traditionally been a centre of heavy industry along with the rest of Tyneside, with for example the Swan Hunter shipyard in Wallsend, and export of coal. Today most of the heavy industry has gone, leaving high unemployment in some areas (over the borough, 3.2% compared to 2.7% for the UK). The borough is the 69th most deprived in England, out of 354. However some parts function as wealthy dormitory suburbs of Newcastle, such as Tynemouth. Recent growth has come in the A19 corridor with new industrial estates and retail parks.

Transport
Tyne Tunnel Southern Entrance

Two key roads serve North Tyneside:

  • The A19 which leaves the A1 north of Newcastle and runs through the borough and then through the Tyne Tunnel to South Tyneside, Teesside and towards the South.
  • The Coast Road (A1058) runs from Newcastle to the coast. For most of its length it is grade-separated.

North Tyneside is served by 17 stations on the Tyne & Wear Metro on a loop from Newcastle through Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Benton and back to Newcastle. Trains operate at least every 15 minutes, with extra services in the peak hours. Most of the stations serving North Tyneside fall into fare zones B and C.

There are no National Rail stations in the borough, despite the East Coast Main Line and Blyth and Tyne routes passing through. The nearest National Rail station is Newcastle, which is also served by the Tyne & Wear Metro.

North Tyneside has an extensive bus network, with most areas benefiting from direct services to Newcastle. Many areas have direct bus services to Cramlington, Blyth or Morpeth. The principle bus operators in the area are Arriva North East (all areas), Go North East (most areas) and Stagecoach in Newcastle (Benton, Forest Hall, Killingworth and Wallsend).

The Shields Ferry links North Shields to South Shields, in South Tyneside.[3]

There is an international ferry terminal at Royal Quays in North Shields, with a service to Amsterdam (IJmuiden).[4]

Places of interest
Segudunum Roman fort

Twinned towns

References
  1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – North Tyneside Local Authority (1946157066)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  2. "North Tyneside Council Councillors". North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. "Ferry - Nexus Tyne and Wear". Nexus. Retrieved 30 January 2016. The Shields Ferry operates a daily passenger service across the river Tyne which connects the local communities of North and South Shields.
  4. "Newcastle ferry". Direct Ferries. Retrieved 30 January 2016. The Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry route is operated by DFDS Seaways and the sailing itself is from around 15 hours 30 minutes.
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