Over the last week, we have been busy replying to communications from our MPs Catherine McKinnell and Chi Onwurah. – We’ve responded to Chi who had facilitated a reply from Barry Rowland, chief executive of Newcastle City Council – Catherine, our most prolific communicant, blogged about the Summer of Cycling and we asked whether it was possible to clarify with the Minister the much-mentioned National Cycle Stakeholder Forum, its terms of references, makeup and transparency We’ve also recently written to Barry Rowland, chief executive of Newcastle City Council, how he sees the excellent 1Plan implemented – NewcastleGateshead’s economic and spatial[…]
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Newcastle City Council statements
Newcastle City Council has made very positive noises about transitioning away from the private car, providing alternatives including a cycle network for decades. The primary transport policies remain the Local Plan and the LTP. Here’s what our council has promised … NewcastleGateshead’s economic and spatial strategy 1PLAN 2010 Link to document [pdf] delivering the best public transport and giving streets back to people, we will break the link between economic growth and miles travelled by private car (Page 7) N:G will become a more compact, accessible and sustainable place, much less dependent on the car. (Page 11) We want to[…]
Read moreNewcastle city centre planning
The Newcastle Cycling Campaign has conducted a review of city centre documents, and concludes the following. It has been alluded that Newcastle’s centre is tired and worn-out, failing terribly to attract the right clientele. It is therefore vital that any regeneration scheme breathes fresh air into this lacking space and creates a welcoming atmosphere and place identity. In fact if the excellent 1PLAN (the overarching strategy for the Newcastle and Gateshead) is to be believed (and why shouldn’t we believe it), the use of cars is to be phased out in the city centre. Cars blight the public space –[…]
Read moreCity centre cycling – let’s talk money
The Newcastle Cycling Campaign has analysed cycling expenditure figures that our council kindly provided to us on our request. We have shared the analysis with our council and invited their feedback but have not received any (yet). Headline Over the last five years an annual average of £0.3m has been expended (or shall we say invested) in cycling, allocated through the Local Transport Plan. To put that sum into context. A typical European annual investment in cycling would amount to £2.8m, based on a sustained annual investment of £10 per citizen. The current investment for cycling in Newcastle is 11%[…]
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