February 2014 – Newcastle Cycling Campaign

Acorn Road – Public Street Design Event

27th February 2014 Claire Uncategorized

Sustrans and Newcastle City Council would like to invite residents and businesses to a public street design event to be held on Acorn Road Saturday 8th March. This will be an opportunity to look at some options that have been developed for the streets around the shopping area and to chat through the opportunities and challenges ahead. We’ll also have the results of our Acorn & St George’s Retailers Survey. You can find them at the junction of Acorn, Larkspur and Sanderson Rd from 10am to 2pm – relocating the display boards to Jesmond Library which is open until 4:30pm.[…]

News clipping – No park plan ‘a boon for cyclists’ on Newcastle’s streets

20th February 2014 NewCycling Press

Chronicle (19 February 2014) No park plan ‘a boon for cyclists’ on Newcastle’s streets http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/no-park-plan-a-boon-6725132

Response to the Strategic Economic Plan consultation

16th February 2014 NewCycling Consultation replies

We are severely worried about the very lacking status of sustainable active transport in the strategy. It seems that only major traditional (road) projects are concentrated upon, when the future will be about creating liveable places, towns and cities. This is a landuse planning and a devolved engineering issue. By not acknowledging the ‘crossroads’ we find ourselves on, we are manoeuvring ourselves into a dead end. I refer you to Iain Docherty’s thinkpiece on your website. Section B4 mentions points that would undermine the North East’s ability to grow, and discusses a few points, but misses out transport entirely. The[…]

Great North Road plans – in detail

15th February 2014 Katja Uncategorized

We reported to you about council plans for Great North Road. The same principles still stand, you can read about it here. We had asked council for a meeting and clarification and there was no interest expressed by them to engage with us. This meant, after a period of waiting for a sign of cooperation, that we felt obliged to object to the scheme as it stands despite some good elements of it. Let’s remind ourselves again, that Great North Road is part of council’s plan to create seven Strategic Cycle Routes, which we took to mean that design on[…]

Response to Local Authority (Car) Parking consultation

14th February 2014 NewCycling Consultation replies

We’d like to support the Cycling Embassy submission http://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/news/2014/02/12/response-to-dft-consultation-on-local-authority-parking to your Local Authority (Car) Parking consultation https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/local-authority-parking. The Localism agenda in fact should give more freedom to local authorities to decide their own parking strategies. We believe that local authorities should be allowed to set their own levels of parking fees and indeed be permitted to “earn” excess income that should be invested in car alternatives such as bike infrastructure. Many studies have shown that the role of car use is overestimated for shopping. We point you towards Sustrans Retail Vitality studies that replicate outcomes of Continental studies. We’ve seen[…]

Gosforth Corridor Scheme Proposed Cycle Lanes

13th February 2014 NewCycling Consultation replies

13 February 2014 Sent to: Councillors from three wards, Newcastle North MP, cycle officer We SUPPORT IN PRINCIPLE the creation of cycle-specific space on Great North Road, but we do question the adequacy of the strength of separation that’s proposed. We’d suggest that a cycle lane (space solely separated by a painted line) currently planned for West side (north of Park Avenue to Broadway) is not enough on a fast busy road like Great North Road that has an 85%ile speed of 37mph and two-way traffic flow of between 20,000 and 30,000 daily (up to or over 3,000 hourly peak).[…]

Holding politicians to account

12th February 2014 NewCycling Uncategorized

Newcycling is concerned about the transition to a better city with a resilient transport system, and says council is not doing enough for a better future for city people, families and children. Council looks after most of our public space and it’s in their gift to arrange that space more fairly to reflect a vibrant inclusive city Newcastle aspires to be. Katja Leyendecker, committee member of the campaign, says “I am deeply worried about our local politicians’ inattentive attitude to one of the biggest transport policies they hold at the council: making modal shift happen or in plain English ‘getting[…]

Six building blocks

8th February 2014 NewCycling Uncategorized

A good city is designed around people, not cars. To design a decent and fair city certain things will have to be considered, actioned and implemented. Ultimately space is limited, and the discussion should be about how this finite space is carved up. Activities that create a better healthier lifestyle such as walking and cycling must be allocated the fair space that they deserve. Activities that suck money out of local economies such as heavy car use for short distances must be discouraged by devoting less space to it. All in all, this makes a better city for everyone –[…]

Space4cycling – the building blocks

8th February 2014 NewCycling Uncategorized

With the local elections in May fast approaching, we are ramping up for action. And to be clear, we want you to get involved on a grand scale! Politicians are always hungry for people power as it gives them a mandate to act, challenge and change things. So we intend to give them just that. Here’s the heads-up: in the run-up to the elections we will ask you to contact your councillors and candidates and tell them what you want them to do. And, yes, we will make it as easy and painless as possible for you to get in[…]