News – Page 3 – Newcastle Cycling Campaign

Our patron Christian Wolmar on Cycling and Labour

13th December 2017 NewCycling News

Starting in 2014, Christian Wolmar has been our patron. Previously Christian wrote to Cllr Nick Forbes to inform Newcastle Labour leadership about the possibilities and mechanisms of change, citing the example of London’s new and convenient cycleways. Back in August Christian wrote about how cycling is a Labour cause. He now is on an extended mission: calling on the solidarity of local and national Labour to debate fairness and cycling in urban design. Read on below. The original article was published on https://labourlist.org/2017/12/christian-wolmar-bikes-are-not-just-for-the-middle-classes-this-is-why-we-set-up-labour-cycles/ Christian Wolmar: Bikes are not just for the middle classes – this is why we set up[…]

The school run: ‘We are not welcome here’

3rd December 2017 NewCycling News

Armelle is a campaign member who has previously reported on cycling in Copenhagen, in Denmark, and Nantes and Bondy in France. Here, she describes her new school run and explains, while there are some things to enjoy, our streets are not designed for cycling families. Having just moved to South Gosforth, we are now enjoying the most stunning cycle ride from home to school, with lots of trees and bird song on the way. I am so happy to no longer have to take Tankerville Terrace to go West Jesmond Primary, where drivers champion the 3-point turn and double yellow line[…]

Response to Draft transport accessibility action plan

21st November 2017 NewCycling Consultation replies, News

This is a written response from newcycling.org to the “Draft transport accessibility action plan” – external link https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/draft-transport-accessibility-action-plan We are a constituted organisation entirely run by volunteers. We formed in 2010 to address economic, social and spatial inequalities in the local transport system. We lobby Newcastle council for inclusive cycling infrastructure. Our organisation has 1,600 local members. We submit this response on behalf of our membership in line with our constitution and policies. We agree that the DfT’s advice on cycling infrastructure design must be updated. We do not however believe that a refresh of current guidance is sufficient at[…]

Our call for donations – Grow Your Tenner 2017

2nd October 2017 NewCycling News

October means it’s Grow Your Tenner time again! The “double-your-donation” match-funding scheme opens at 10am on Tuesday 17 October and runs until midday on Thursday 17 November, or until the funding pot runs out – whichever comes first. Last year we raised over £1,500 and this year, with your help, we hope to raise even more! If you’d like to participate please mark Tuesday 16 October in your calendar now. However, we will remind you on the day, just in case. To donate, simply go to https://localgiving.com/charity/newcycling and please don’t forget to register for gift aid to make your donation go even further.[…]

City4Kids – Newcastle’s future

16th September 2017 NewCycling News, Politics

Newcastle Council are worried about families and young people leaving our city and with good reason too (see quotes from the Local Plan at end of this article). To address this problem, Newcastle needs to put younger generations at the heart of future plans. We believe that politics in Newcastle must change. Our politicians must start thinking about young families, and start talking about what the city should offer to our young people. This is our City4Kids initiative. What is it like to grow up in Newcastle as a young person? What is it like to bring up children here?[…]

Streets for People or Streets for Cars? Newcastle, it’s time to choose

30th March 2017 Sally Event, News

A whole-day event took place in the Civic Centre, on Saturday 11 March, bringing together groups from the three areas Newcastle Council has selected for its ‘Streets for People’ project. Residents and councillors from Jesmond, Heaton & Ouseburn, Fenham & Arthur’s Hill came to hear talks from Cllr Ged Bell (cabinet member for Investment and Development), Graham Grant (Head of Transport), Jon Little and John Dales (consultants from Phil Jones Associates). The presentations were inspiring and if these words can be translated into action we could achieve some great stuff with the £3 million set aside for this project. There[…]

Newcastle – a working city?

26th February 2017 NewCycling News, Politics

Our city has strong working class and labour roots. Coming from the mining, steel and shipbuilding industries, we are of solid stock and history. We, at Newcycling, believe that is something to be rather proud of and should be celebrated much more than is currently done. We also must forge this heritage into a future for Newcastle. With this history in mind it is surprising however that our transport system does not cater much better for its working citizens, job seekers, school, college and university goers and the older population. Instead, the council, through using old-fashioned approaches to city planning,[…]

Council Budget 2017/18 consultation – our reply

4th January 2017 NewCycling Consultation replies, News

Dear Nick and Ged (cc Graham Grant) Our response to the Newcastle Budget 2017-18 will be short and based on previous years’ responses covering the budget periods 2013/16, 2015/16, and 2016/17. We have consistently asked for the Council to prioritise sustainable transport infrastructure and deploy resources accordingly. We still have to see a clear transition from investment into roads and motorised traffic to walking & cycling and public transport. Too often, the Council sends conflicting messages: supporting plans for additional car parking while building quality cycling cycleways in the city centre. How would people react to this, and how would[…]

A year of REAL debate

26th December 2016 Katja News

Another year has come to an end; and I will attempt to quickly write up some of my thoughts about the last 12 months. It was a year of extremes: a protected cycleway was finally built on John Dobson Street, but was darkly overshadowed by the horrendous road-building plans of the Northern Access Corridor. Campaigning was, more than anything, an emotional rollercoaster this year. Never mind the varying quality of plans, on the whole I simply wished council’s programme would have been clearer, better projected and outlined, as that would have given us more time to properly prepare our position[…]

A visit to Waltham Forest’s Mini-Holland

3rd December 2016 Sally News

The upcoming second phase of Newcastle’s Cycle City Ambition Fund includes plans to reduce traffic and improve conditions for walking and cycling in neighbourhoods close to the city centre. Jesmond, Sandyford, Heaton, Ouseburn, Fenham and Arthur’s Hill are all part of the ‘Streets for People’ initiative. These were in part inspired by plans in progress in London called ‘Mini-Hollands’. Waltham Forest is the first of these to get going and we thought that it would be good for a group from Newcastle to go and take a look at what they had done so far. I accompanied a group of[…]