In November 2024, the North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, and the North East Combined Authority launched a consultation on their Local Travel Plan. This is a record of our response.
Street Life in North Tyneside is an inclusive, membership organisation with one primary aim: campaigning for safer, better streets in North Tyneside. We have over 175 members who advocate for better streets across the borough, promote walking, cycling and wheeling to support a range of social, environmental, health and wellbeing benefits, and engage with North Tyneside Council to create safe spaces for walking, cycling and wheeling.
We work with partners across the north-east (including the Jesmond, Gosforth, Heaton, Fenham and Durham SPACE groups, the Newcastle Cycling Campaign, the Northumberland Cycling Campaign, and the North East Public Transport Users Group) to campaign together for a safe, high quality, connected active travel network which links to the region’s public transport, to enable an alternative to private motor travel.
In general, in response to the Local Travel Plan, we would like to see much greater political support, backed by significant, consistent and long-term investment, to improve active travel and public transport infrastructure across the North East, delivered at pace and in a transparent and accountable way:
- Appointment of an Active Travel champion in 2025 working in tandem with the Mayor to build political support for active travel across the region and embed the safety of women and girls in all interventions.
- 20% of the regional transport budget-including future integrated settlements to be ring-fenced for active travel infrastructure and other activities, complementing and adding value to investment in public transport.
- The timely development and delivery of the north east’s active travel network building on local authorities’ Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs), with a first phase of investment and related schemes delivered by 2027.
- Greater emphasis on travel to schools through prioritisation of investment to design and build safe routes to schools and installation of school streets. Having noted that the percentage of active travel journeys to schools in the north east is the second lowest in England, we recommend that this KPI is added to the final plan, with a view to significantly and rapidly increasing the percentage of active travel journeys to school across the region.
- Ongoing and meaningful opportunities for the public, including women and girls, to help shape the regional active travel network and to contribute to the prioritisation of investment, enabling early local buy-in for schemes.
- Ensuring health benefits are captured in all transport schemes’ appraisal. Given limited resources, not all Local Travel Plan schemes will be able to be funded and those delivering health benefits should be recognised for their significant value for money.
In short, we believe that reallocating space for walking, wheeling and cycling and prioritising public transport over private motor vehicles is the only way to deliver the health, environmental and economic benefits and KPIs that the transport plan aims to achieve.
In the rest of this response, we focus specifically on the perspective from North Tyneside, reflecting its place in the wider north-east transport and travel network.
Located to the east of Newcastle, North Tyneside is a diverse borough with a number of town and village centres, and out-of-town retail and employment sites, all with varying transport and travel connections to each other and to Newcastle and the wider north-east. It is traversed by major N-S and E-W roads (the A19 and the A1058) and much of the yellow Metro line (Wallsend to Longbenton), but its active travel and wider public transport networks are less functional, with disconnected active travel infrastructure, slow, often indirect and unreliable buses, and a delayed connection to the new Northumberland Line (at Northumberland Park).
Metro, Rail and the Northumberland Line
We welcome the much-anticipated opening of the Northumberland Line station at Northumberland Park in 2025, and believe this will offer both an important connection from North Tyneside north to Northumberland and an alternative public transport route to Newcastle City Centre. We believe Northumberland Park would be an obvious case for an integrated ‘mobility hub’ (Ambition 6), ensuring that transfers to and from the new Northumberland Line (north and south) can be made conveniently, safely and reliably by those travelling on foot, by cycle, and by bus (as well as by Metro).
In 2014, The Metro Strategy 2030[1] included plans for an additional Metro link between Howdon/Percy Main and Northumberland Park, opening up access to the Northumberland Line but also with proposed stations at Silverlink and Cobalt, two key retail and employment sites. There is no mention of this route in the current Local Travel Plan and the reference to “more stations and future expansion plans” (Ambition 6).
Ambition 14 outlines the need for “improved local rail connectivity on the ECML north of Newcastle”; since the ECML runs through North Tyneside from the point where it crosses the A1058 to the edge of Cramlington, this possibility for improved rail connectivity has the potential to serve the borough well and must be considered in the context of residents’ needs and wider connections to public transport and active travel. If the Northumberland Line were to be extended from Bedlington to Morpeth, then a direct route, avoiding Newcastle, would be opened between North Tyneside and the ECML.
Bus Connections
Within North Tyneside and to its northern and southern neighbours, bus connections are sporadic, unreliable, and indirect. For example, to travel from North Shields town centre to Killingworth shopping centre by bus takes approximately one hour and, depending on the time of travel, can require a transfer between buses or between bus and metro via circuitous routes (Ambition 26). By car, this journey is just over 6 miles and takes approximately 12 minutes. To South Shields, visible from North Shields town centre, a bus journey also takes around an hour, with a car journey (through the Tyne Tunnel) timed at approximately 17 minutes.
To and from Newcastle city centre, buses run to a relatively frequent timetable along the Coast Road (A1058) and cooperation and the ticket-sharing arrangements introduced in March 2023 for the 306, 307, 308 and 309 certainly offered an improvement. But this is a notoriously unreliable route, with timetabled buses often running late or not at all. For those living at a greater distance from the Metro line, buses along the Coast Road offer the only alternative to driving and must be made more appealing and reliable, with a serious consideration of reallocating road space from private motor vehicles to cars, especially as the route approaches Newcastle city centre.
These issues must be addressed more urgently than the plans for bus franchising would allow; reach, coverage and quality of public transport must be addressed to meet the region’s economic, environmental and health challenges (Ambition 6) and to establish a seamless, coordinated network (Ambitions 24-26).
Connecting Cycle Networks across the Region
While we continue to push North Tyneside Council to commit to developing high-quality, connected, consistent infrastructures for cycling within the borough, a regional network is just as important, with considerable potential for “high speed” links between North Tyneside and the centres of Newcastle and Gateshead, south to South Tyneside and Sunderland, and north to Northumberland. These should be high-quality, prioritised routes that connect population centres with sites of employment, education, retail, and health, for example, ensuring that cycling is a real, safe, reliable option for mid-length journeys across the region. Much of the rest of Tyneside and Wearside would be accessible from the borough within 45 minutes, if safe, direct routes were available.
The quality of routes is key, not only to keep existing cyclists safe but also to unlock modal shift, from driving to cycling. There is, in theory, a waymarked cycle route from Tynemouth to Newcastle city centre, but it often follows unimproved shared paths and incorporates, between Billy Mill and the Corner House, 18 junctions where cyclists have to stop to give way to drivers, many unprotected and frankly dangerous, with drivers travelling at up to 70mph. For drivers, this same stretch is seamless, with no junctions. Ambition 18 commits to safer roads, especially for vulnerable users, and this is essential for the development and improvement of North Tyneside’s cycle network to enable more journeys to be made by bicycle.
The North East Combined Authority must work with North Tyneside Council, and other local authorities, to push for greater progress and transparency in the delivery of the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) routes, to contribute to the Local Travel Plan’s regional ambitions. At regional level, the development of the active travel network, building on and bringing together each authority’s LCWIPs, should be an open and collaborative process.
Much is made of our National Cycle Network Routes (NCN1, NCN10, and NCN14) and the wider waggonway network, and while these do offer value to leisure cyclists to travel across the region, their value for everyday cycling is much more limited. The quality of the paths is variable, and they can be inaccessible to non-traditional cycles (adapted bikes, cargo bikes, trikes, etc.) and to many more in bad weather and in dark mornings and evenings, for example (Ambition 10). Social safety is poor on these routes, especially for women and girls (Ambitions 15-17), and they can not be relied on for intra-regional connections.
Routes across the Tyne offer key connections for North Tyneside, including especially the Shields Ferry and the Tyne Pedestrian and Cycle Tunnel.
We welcome the (albeit much-delayed) refurbishment of the pedestrian and cycle tunnel and the eventual opening of the inclined lifts, but this route can still be unreliable when faults and maintenance demand the closure of the lifts. If the region’s transport network is to be truly resilient (Ambition 11), then back-up plans for this crossing need to be robust, reliable and to meet the needs of users; this is rarely the case with the bus replacement service that is offered. While mitigation is a priority for disrupted road routes, it seems to be at the most an afterthought for cycling (and walking) routes.
The Shields ferry is an essential service for residents of North Tyneside who cycle, facilitating travel for work, education, shopping and more across the river, and also for welcoming visitors to the region. We are pleased to see the commitment (Ambition 27) in the Local Travel Plan to its future and to linking it more with other types of transport. Bus routes around the ferry could, for example, allow for cycles to be carried, enabling more active travel and public transport connections to be developed. Proposed changes to the location of the Ferry landing in North Shields, should incorporate suitable cycle-supporting infrastructure.
In general, easing access for bicycles on the Metro and on the region’s buses would open up much wider routes, reducing demand for car journeys into and out of North Tyneside (Ambitions 24 & 25). Current cycle parking and storage facilities at Metro stations are often inadequate. In developing ‘mobility hubs’ (Ambition 6, Ambition 25) secure, reliable and accessible cycle parking must be incorporated: siting should be in secure and visible locations to deter theft or vandalism, and increase users’ confidence. In stark contradiction to the ambitions of the Local Travel Plan to ensure “sufficient … bike parking at key stations and interchanges” (Ambition 25), the self-contained cycle lockers are now deprecated, with Nexus citing maintenance costs and under usage, however their usage was likely limited by the need to make an in-person visit to South Gosforth Control Centre for the manual activation of the users’ Pop card; access to cycle parking at ‘mobility hubs’ and key stations must be easily facilitated.
Limitations imposed on carrying cycles on board Metro trains through the central sections between Jesmond and Gateshead Stadium and St James and Manors restricts cyclists from being able to use the Metro as a link in a multi-modal journey between North Tyneside and Newcastle. This particularly limits families’ abilities to travel across the region, where distances or safe route concerns may limit longer journeys. It also imposes limits on those commuting to Newcastle Central station for onward travel, requiring cyclists to traverse the city by bike for short distances from Jesmond or Manors stations, on often inadequate cycle routes.
Peak time restrictions on cycle carriage also heavily limit commuting cyclists from using Metro as part of a multi-modal journey over greater distances; increasing the importance of good, secure and well maintained cycle storage at Metro stations.
In short, facilitating multi-modal travel is about more than ticketing (Ambition 5) but also about accessibility and infrastructure, genuinely allowing residents to “make seamless journeys door to door” (Ambition 24) and support “the use of greener travel” (Ambition 25).
Infrastructure for Walking and Wheeling
In many ways, our response to infrastructure for walking and wheeling echoes that for cycling; it needs to be much easier and safer to access public transport, at stops, stations and hubs, for those walking and wheeling (Ambition 18), and especially for women and girls (Ambition 17). In North Tyneside, this relates particularly to local infrastructures around town and village centres and key employment sites, but also to residential neighbourhoods. In all these, the reallocation and redesign of road space to prioritise those walking and wheeling, for example through the creation of low-traffic neighbourhoods, the pedestrianisation of town and village centres, and the proper prioritisation of pedestrians at junctions and crossing points (Ambition 10, Ambition 18).
In North Tyneside, as elsewhere, pavement parking and the associated deteriorating quality of pavements is a real issue, for all but especially for those with mobility and/or health disabilities and with caring responsibilities. Safe pedestrian routes to school are essential and must be prioritised by North Tyneside Council with the support of NECA.
Improved design both for new and established pedestrian crossings should prevent drivers from obstructing crossings by parking too closely. This has become an increasing problem in town centres particularly, with some examples in Whitley Bay seeing drivers fully obstructing pedestrian crossings to access fast food and takeaway establishments. Funding for, and prioritisation of the installation of retrospective layout changes, would significantly improve the safety of these facilities for pedestrians. Pedestrian safety is often one of the greatest contributory factors in the decision to make a short motor vehicle journey (Ambition 18).
Of course, the Shields Ferry and the Tyne Pedestrian and Cycle Tunnel offer pedestrians essential cross-river links, as they do for those cycling, such that the resilience (Ambition 11) of these services in the context of disruptions, extreme weather, staffing and maintenance must be assured.
New Housing Developments
In North Tyneside, there is a particular need to focus on the quality of public transport and active travel infrastructures for new housing developments, especially in the north of the borough, bordering both Newcastle and Northumberland.
Ambition 7 stresses that “new employment sites and housing should have strong sustainable travel links, such as public transport and active travel”, but we see little evidence of this in recent developments in North Tyneside. For this to be realised, NECA must find ways of working with North Tyneside Council and other local authorities to ensure that transport networks in and around new housing developments are planned on the basis that most travel to those sites should be via public transport and/or active travel, and ensure that any money paid by developers for infrastructure as a condition of planning permission is fully allocated to sustainable transport.
Car Clubs and Car Sharing
North Tyneside is woefully underserviced car clubs and car sharing schemes, with just 4 Co Wheels cars available, all located on the coast. NECA must work with North Tyneside Council to improve this, offering the borough’s residents a real choice to forego private car ownership (Ambition 6) and facilitate multi-modal travel (Ambition 24).
International Connections
Whilst Ambition 9 in the Local Travel Plan includes an illustration of the DFDS North Shields to IJmuiden ferry, there is no mention of the value of the Port of Tyne for international passenger journeys, nor of the potential to explore development opportunities for other international ferry routes to Europe, which might enable reduced demand in the region for air travel (with its significant carbon footprint). The loss of passenger ferry routes to Norway and Denmark reduced the region’s international connectivity, and also the potential for inbound tourist income. Rumours regularly circulate of plans for renewed North Sea ferry routes and, in this context, it would be good to see NECA commit to explore potential opportunities here.
As it stands, those travelling on the existing DFDS ferry without a private car have much more complicated journeys to and from the port. The ferry is served by a direct bus to Newcastle city centre, but this fails to enable “seamless access to our key gateways” (Ambition 6) and other regional connections, within North Tyneside, or north and south to its neighbours, by bus, metro or active travel. The NCN cycle routes (1, 10 and 14) which connect to the port are of very poor quality (see above) and must be improved if they are to offer attractive options for those travelling by bicycle to the port from the wider region, or arriving in the north east via the Port of Tyne. Improvements in all these routes would enable more regional residents to reduce reliance on air travel and improve the benefits of incoming tourist travel for the region as a whole. This links to Ambition 14’s commitment to link the region’s ports to enable “more people to travel sustainably to and from our region’s international gateways from right across the North East, benefitting residents, businesses, and tourists”.
Street Life in North Tyneside
admin@streetlifenorthtyneside.org.uk
26th January 2025
[1] https://www.theplanner.co.uk/2014/03/27/tyne-and-wear-metro-extension-gets-green-light