Press – Page 2 – Newcastle Cycling Campaign

Dramatic changes to Grey Street unveiled which will give people more space to walk and cycle

16th May 2020 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 15 May 2020 (by Daniel Holland) The temporary plans include one-way walking routes, markings on the ground to indicate a safe two metre distance, the removal of benches, and new cycle lanes. Dramatic changes to Newcastle city centre have been revealed to make sure people can maintain social distancing as lockdown is eased. Newcastle City Council bosses have revealed an initial set of measures, which will start coming into force next week, to give cyclists and pedestrians extra space as workplaces and shops begin to open again in the coming weeks. Sally Watson, of the Newcastle Cycling Campaign,[…]

Calls to keep cyclists safe as Newcastle’s most dangerous roads for bikes are revealed

12th November 2019 NewCycling News, Press

Evening Chronicle – 3 November 2019 A cycling campaigner has called for action as the North East’s most dangerous roads for bikes are revealled. Newcastle’s New Bridge Street roundabout and parts of the Great North Road are hotspots for crashes. At Bluehouse Roundabout, on the Great North Road, police recorded five accidents involving a cyclist in which at least one person was hurt between January 2017 and December 2018. Sally Watson, a pro-cycling activist from the Newcastle Cycling Campaign, said many of the areas highlighted were well-known to be dangerous, and had been considered for improvements by Newcastle City Council. For the full[…]

Call for new commissioner to tackle ‘woefully underfunded’ walking and cycling in Newcastle

18th August 2019 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 30 July 2019 Campaigners are calling for a ‘Walking and Cycling Commissioner’ in the North East. A new figurehead could be appointed to spearhead efforts to improve “woefully underfunded” walking, cycling, and public transport infrastructure in the North of Tyne. Campaigners are calling on metro mayor Jamie Driscoll to appoint a new ‘Walking and Cycling Commissioner’ to help tackle the region’s air pollution and climate crisis. Sally Watson, chair of Newcastle Cycling Campaign, said “Walking, cycling and public transport are woefully underfunded, despite being the cleanest and greenest options. In the light of a climate emergency, now declared by[…]

‘Clean Air Coalition’ demands new vision to solve Tyneside’s pollution crisis – on top of the toll

27th May 2019 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 13 May 2019 Prominent action groups are urging Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside chiefs to do more to convince people of the need to slash toxic emissions. Campaigners have united behind demands for council bosses to deliver more innovative plans to cut dangerous pollution levels on Tyneside – on top of a new clean air toll. Sally Watson, chair of Newcastle Cycling Campaign said: “They need to move away from behaviour change campaigns which put the responsibility on individuals to change their behaviour and should outline concrete plans for a high-quality walking and cycling network. “People will choose[…]

‘A real shame’ – cyclists react to Mobike’s Newcastle exit and demand action from council

25th May 2019 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 1 May 2019 The cycle hire firm confirmed on Tuesday that it is pulling all of its bikes out of Newcastle and Gateshead from the beginning of May. ampaigners say that a Mobike-style project will not work in Newcastle until more action is taken to make the city’s roads safer for cyclists. … Newcastle Cycling Campaign leaders say that efforts to get more people cycling in the city through bike-sharing schemes are doomed to fail unless there are big changes to boost cycle routes. Sally Watson, of the Newcastle Cycling Campaign, said: “This is a real shame, but it[…]

Fury as £500k projects to make Jesmond roads safer for children and cyclists put on hold

3rd February 2019 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 31 January 2019 SPACE for Jesmond has hit out after two schemes disappeared from Newcastle City Council’s ‘Streets for People’ programme NewCycling Chair, Sally Watson, said: “One of these schemes was designed to make the street outside West Jesmond Primary School safer for children travelling to school following the removal of the two crossing patrols. “The other scheme saw improvements to Osborne Road between Haldane Bridge and Holly Avenue. These two schemes are in areas highlighted as the most dangerous and unpleasant in the initial neighbourhood wide consultation.” https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/fury-500k-projects-make-jesmond-15754668

Council comes under fire for scrapping plans to boost cycling in Newcastle

12th January 2019 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle – 10 January 2019 Newcastle Cycling Campaign members say they are ‘disappointed’ after the plans were scrapped. Sally Watson said: “”The most recent of these is Barras Bridge, where cycling has been quietly removed from plans. We recently wrote to Coun Arlene Ainsley, cabinet member for transport and air quality, to express our concerns. We are still awaiting a response to this letter.” https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/council-comes-under-fire-scrapping-15652798

‘Near misses: The fundamental issue is not drivers, but road design’ says NewCycling

19th August 2017 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle (19 August 2017) – The Co-chair of NewCycling, Katja Leyendecker explains that near misses and ‘close shaves’ experienced by cyclists on a daily basis are not all down to drivers’ bad behaviour, it’s the road design and the built environment that is to blame. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/heart-mouth-head-cam-footage-13495061

‘We should be more like Amsterdam’: Newcastle Cycle Campaign call for more cycle lanes

23rd November 2016 NewCycling Press

Evening Chronicle (23 November 2016) – The campaigning group has called for more cycle lanes after one was introduced on John Dobson Street. On video Katja gives the campaign’s position on the project. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/we-should-more-like-amsterdam-12221587

Road safety week – let’s stop the blame game

5th November 2016 NewCycling News, Press

Newcastle City Council says it wants more people to cycle and travel more actively. And rightly so! Newcastle has an obesity crisis putting a crushing burden on health/wellbeing services. General inequalities are widening in the city too. Newcastle is becoming more divided. The construction of an inclusive transport system can level the playing field a great deal. So road safety should really not be allowed to drive people off the road. It should be about making the transport system inclusive and safe. Yet, many road and traffic schemes do not comply. Schemes branded cycling schemes repeatedly turn out to be[…]