Month: January 2015

consultation response image

Response to Newcastle budget 2015-16 consultation

Consultation replies

To Newcastle City Council In future, we would have liked to see the transport budget be presented in a much clearer way. The format and structure of the consultation is too complex and does not allow the reader to understand the full extent of resources and associated income, investment and/or cuts allocated to transport. In particular it should better articulate the rationale and economic case for investing in sustainable forms of travel, especially societal and financial gains made when enabling cycling through cycle infrastructure (capital investment). The budget should also clarify the revenue resources available to support the transition to[…]

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YouReport – air quality

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A member and Gosforth resident had a good look at air quality, zooming in from the EU and national situation to the subject’s relevance to Gosforth High Street – one of Newcastle Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) (1). This youReport article rightly argues that air pollution caused by motor traffic should be recognised as a serious public health crisis, and as such must be adequately addressed, as were open sewers and smoking in the recent and more distant past. As a campaign group we hope that an alliance with partnering organisations will get the subject of air quality a due[…]

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Amsterdam Side Road Crossing

Campaign group – Infrastructure team

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We are getting seriously organised. Over the last few months the Committee has looked at our organisation, and given it some added ‘structural stability’ to accommodate the growing demands on a growing Campaign. This was particularly necessary as more and more people wanted to be involved, making it a specially good time to be clearer about how we do things and how we are organised. We reported here and here. One of the big Committee groups is the Infrastructure team. To welcome new people to cycling, we must first change our city’s roads to get down to a human scale[…]

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Committee and Members Meeting Jan 15

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We’ll meet at the Trent House, a nice and friendly pub in Newcastle city centre. Find us upstairs in our dedicated area. Welcome to our Committee & Members meeting: Committee 17:00-19:00 Members 19:00-21:00pm – come along, grab a drink, meet the committee and take part in the discussion Venue: The Trent House, 1-2 Leazes Lane, NE1 4QT Bike parking: straight outside, at the railings. We will add the agenda of the meeting nearer the time. All members meetings this year: – 27 May 2014 – 29 July 2014 – 30 September 2014 – 25 November 2014 – 27 January 2015[…]

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Position statement – Tour de France bidding

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We welcome cycling sports spectacles such the Tour de France (TdF) as a tourism and culture events promoting and showcasing Newcastle and the region to the world. However we urge caution about any claims of lasting local effects these events create beyond their short lifespan (legacy). Experience and evidence over recent years (like TdF stages in Yorkshire and the Olympics) have not shown these big sporting events living up to their legacy forecast. To create a true cycling legacy, lasting for decades to come, we therefore believe money needs to be invested into building a cycle network that allows people to feel safe[…]

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Campaign calls for calm

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Newcycling.org asks Newcastle Councillors of all parties to work together on transport matters for the common good. This serious call is prompted by raging fights between Liberal Democrats and Labour. Recent doubt sown over consultation processes and even threatening legal action, both in Gosforth and Jesmond, have been to the detriment of the public these politicians are supposed to serve in the first instance. Katja Leyendecker, chair of newcycling.org, says: “Transport is too serious a subject to afford this negative time and energy. Transport connects, it brings people together. The current transport system is bursting at the seams. We have[…]

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Our new structure – teams

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Vitally, our campaign activities focus on decision makers and inspiring, educating and engaging them, so that they can take informed action. Understandably, as for individual’s involvement with the campaign, this is not everyone’s cup of tea and neither is it all that we do. If political campaigning and lobbying is your thing, consider joining the Committee. If it isn’t, fret not – there’s still loads that needs doing – some of it is of a  technical nature (website, cycle infrastructure design), some organisational (running a community interest group). In November we showed you a quick and easy chart outlining the[…]

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