At 11am sharp, Owen Luder arrives at Newcastle train station and hops into cab to confront the people of Gateshead. He wants their support to help him secure the future of the town centre’s car park, which he designed nearly 45 years ago.

The local council has decided it should be demolished, describing it as “a monstrosity”. It has also been nominated as one of the country’s ugliest buildings by Channel 4 series Demolition.

The council is in talks with site owner Tesco to redevelop the adjoining shopping centre. They argue that to regenerate the ailing town centre, the area has to be flattened. At the moment, only the first seven floors of the car park are in use, as the council has cordoned off the four upper levels, arguing that the structure is unsafe.

Luder believes the arguments are nonsense. 

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