Lodge Faces Demolition — But Are Stadium Plans Just a Distraction?
By James Murray-Hodcroft | The Hodlines | Date 18th May 2025
Plans to demolish the Grade II-listed Leazes Park Lodge have ignited widespread anger across the North East, but growing evidence suggests viral rumours about a Newcastle United stadium expansion may be distracting from deeper issues of public neglect and financial mismanagement.
In February, the BBC reported that the historic lodge “could be demolished.” The backlash was swift, with hundreds of Geordies sharing their outrage online. Former resident Kerry Corbett wrote: “We weren’t even allowed to build a back fence to protect our daughter, yet this is acceptable? It makes me beyond angry.”
Others, including Charlie Tynan and Alan Drysdale, claimed the council had “left it to rot on purpose.”
Attention has turned to a £3.7 million National Heritage grant awarded in 2001 to restore Leazes Park. Newcastle Councillor Greg Stone said: “That was public money. People deserve answers. At the very least, the council should be communicating.”
Stone explained that the park’s decline began when its management was outsourced to a charity, Urban Green, and skilled staff were dismissed. Former Parks Development Manager Rob Delap agrees. In his first on-camera interview, he claimed: “Urban Green was doomed from the start. The council knew the funding was inadequate. They set it up to fail.”
Delap says the Lodge was condemned in 2019 due to major structural faults, theft, and fire damage. “There are no real stadium plans,” he added. “The mock-ups online are AI. It’s rage-bait, a distraction from the real scandal.”
The Council and Urban Green have been approached for comment.
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