Gosforth High Street : Improve for pedestrians say Liberal Democrats

Newcastle City Council is determined to press ahead with a traffic management scheme which a majority of local residents reject. The next stage of consultation on the proposals for Gosforth High Street will commence in September for a three week period.

Even before the results are known, it has announced

· Work will start on Church Road, Salters Road junction in October and will continue until mid November, at which point work will be suspended for the Christmas period. The work that takes place during this period will be undertaken by utilities providers on behalf of the council and lane closures will be limited to between 09:30 and 15:30.
· The car park will remain as is with a minimal loss of parking over the Christmas period. Work will then recommence in January at which point the parking will be suspended to enable works to take place in the area.

In response to the Local Government Obudsman's report on the scheme ( http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/newcastle-city-council-not-fault-9881314 ) Cllr Dr Nick Cott (Liberal Democrat, West Gosforth) said:

'We have noted the decision of the ombudsman who looked at the issue against the legal framework, but it doesn't alter the fact that the consultation was badly handled by the Council. There was a lack of political oversight, and no consensus built amongst the local community and people were led to believe that they were being asked to vote on their preferred option.

We would have consulted with the community very differently, with a more bottom-up approach, based on local priorities, and the development of a shared view of a rationale for any proposed changes.

In relation to the red route plans:

The Council is now moving to the statutory legal stage in relation to proposals and there are likely to be objections, which the Council needs to consider seriously.

We have concerns about the plans to introduce a cycle route, in a lane which will include off-peak parking and bus access. There is a perfectly good dedicated route being created to the east side of the High Street, which we support. Another route is unnecessary.

The priority for the High Street should be to improve the environment for pedestrians. We have recommended wider pavements instead of a cycle route.

The proposed red route is overkill, being in force through most of the working day. Traders are right to be fearful that this will be detrimental to trade, and we continue to press this point. For example, if the much vaunted so-called "smart" traffic lights bring a reduction in congestion perhaps the Red Route would be rendered unnecessary?

We have on-going concerns over the changes to residents' parking schemes, which we do not believe are fair to the residents. Why should they have to be inconvenienced - with loss of their amenity - because of an ill-conceived plan to reduce car parking elsewhere?

In relation to Salters Road car park / junction change Salters Road / Church road:

Residents and traders will be concerned to hear that this part of the proposals doesn't need any formal legal order issued; there is so much at stake.

We are most concerned about the plans to reduce the size of Salters Road car park by half (40 spaces) and the impact this will have on the traders. The plans for the roadworks, starting in October, could severely impact their businesses and we want the Council to enter into a proper discussion over the plans.

It is still not too late for the Council to consider our suggestions to redirect the new road away from the car park, so saving spaces. We also want the Council to take up our suggestion to create car parking in Lansdowne Terrace, to replace the bus lane, which we are told has been ineffective and ought to be removed.

We do not believe that creating spaces for parking in Moor Road is actually new parking, as people already park there. To say it is new, because it will be formalised with traffic orders, is misleading.'