The North Tyneside Borough Green Party has written to Carl Johnson, the North Tyneside Cabinet Member responsible for Environment and Transport, to request an urgent review of the planned closure of the Sunrise Cycleway.
There is strong local support for the Cycleway.
There are a number of reasons to maintain the Cycleway, including the need to keep measures in place for Social Distancing, as talk turns to Tier 3 Restrictions or a Circuit Break to control the Covid-19 R rate.
The Cycleway provides a significant upgrade to National Cycle Network 1 and is therefore of National importance. The lack of any other cycle lane for much of the length of the coast makes this section of the Network particularly hazardous. The Cycleway removes this risk entirely and makes the route even more attractive to tourists.
Local residents have pointed to the increase in cycling and an increased sense of safety when using the pavements and roads
The Environmental impact of the Cycleway should not be ignored. Following campaigning by the North Tyneside Borough Green Party, the Council accepted the Climate Emergency and has committed to reaching Net Zero Carbon. [The Council target of 2050 falls well behind the Green Party target of 2030].
The closure of the Cycleway will only increase car use, and reduce cycling.
Alan Steele, Local Green Party Campaigner for Whitley Bay, describes this as a ‘’backwards step by the Council; road transport accounts for almost a third of carbon emissions, not to mention the other pollution arising from car use. The Council should be encouraging alternative transport, not removing a Cycleway which has made Whitley Bay greener.”
Local Authorities are obliged to implement the National Cycling & Walking Investment Strategy. North Tyneside Council has already invested in the infrastructure for the Cycleway – it seems a waste of resource (money and time) to remove this now.
We understand that further funding has been made available to Local Authorities in Tranche 2 of the National Active Travel Fund.
The North Tyneside Borough Green Party urges the Council to review the planned closure of the Sunrise Cycleway and take steps to maintain this as a feature of our coast.
