The North Tyneside Green Party warmly welcomes the announcement that funding has been secured for the creation of a ‘Seafront Sustainable Route’ between North Shields Fish Quay and St Mary’s Lighthouse. We did hope that the route would be completed by the summer and note that the local council plans to begin work ‘as early as September 2022’. We urge the Council to communicate the outcomes of the consultation as soon as possible, together with traffic data collected before, during and after the 2020’s pop up scheme. It’s been more than 7 months since the consultation ended!
A recent Chronicle article was (surprisingly) negative and one-sided. It failed to note the local support for such a scheme. Our work around the area has shown that there is much support for the route, especially from families with young children. The 2020’s ‘pop-up’ was very well used and our evidence supports the evidence produced by groups such as ‘Living Streets’, Sustrans and Cycling UK that good quality, well connected segregated cycleways will enable more people to cycle and make cycling more inclusive. People want to cycle, but safety is a big issue: many children and also older people can be seen cycling on pavements, showing the need for safe space for cycling in Whitley Bay.
We also welcome the proposed application of a 20mph zone along the coast. Research, by RoSPA, NICE, UK gov and others, suggests 20mph zones increases community cohesion, can support a shift to walking and cycling, reduces road danger and traffic noise and do not increase air pollution.
Now that the community has had a chance to shape the project to meet their needs, and all involved have had the chance to learn lessons from pilot scheme, there is amazing potential to work together to begin a life-enhancing programme of transformation. In addition to helping to create a cleaner, healthier environment this scheme means that residents and visitors to the coast will find the experience safer, greener, and more accessible.
We wholeheartedly support the creation of a quality, safe, segregated space along the coast including the 2-way cycleway which will be a great step towards more local active and sustainable travel. We will continue to ask the Council for better engagement and consultation, faster delivery and clear communication about how this scheme links up to other routes into the borough.