Council bosses have promised answers to “major concerns” over efforts to pedestrianise one of Newcastle city centre’s main bus routes.
Newcastle City Council is planning to block vehicles from using Blackett Street and turn the busy street into a cleaner and safer space for people coming into the city centre for work, shopping, or leisure.
The proposals took a step forward last month, with the authority’s cabinet granting approval for civic centre officials to start the legal process required to shut the street – beginning with a minimum three-week consultation on a new Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).
But a group of Liberal Democrats claimed that the move gave senior transport officials “carte blanche” to reconfigure the city centre’s road network without offering any detail on how it will work – particularly on what will be done to help disabled and elderly people hit by the changes.
The plans have also sparked fears among residents in the outer west of the city who also rely on Blackett Street’s bus services and has provoked the ire of bus operators, whose opposition could result in the matter being taken to a public inquiry.
After the Lib Dem opposition ‘called in’ the cabinet’s decision at a scrutiny hearing on Monday, council chiefs have promised widespread consultation and clear details on the plans before they are finalised.
Coun Greg Stone, the Lib Dems’ transport spokesman, said his party was not opposed to the principle of pedestrianising Blackett Street, one of the most polluted roads in the city, but that there are “a lot of important details to get right in terms of significant and potentially disruptive changes to the city centre’s
He told Monday’s hearing that bus companies had evident misgivings about the idea of a new bus loop around the city centre that risked “significant congestion”, and that the changes could also make it harder for people with limited mobility to access the heart of the city centre.
Coun Stone also criticised the council’s “not encouraging” record on other major road schemes such as the infamous John Dobson Street bus lane and said that a “host of practical issues” needed addressing about the Blackett Street closure – including how the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony will work, how vehicles will access the Theatre Royal, and newly-announced plans for an electric ‘hopper’ service.
Fellow Lib Dem councillor Christine Morrissey added that the idea of Blackett Street closing was “scary” for many people who rely on it as an access point to the city centre and that the council needed to take the time to get it right.
But Labour’s Ged Bell, the council’s cabinet member for transport and neighbourhoods, said the Lib Dems had made “fundamental errors” and that claims officers had been granted carte blanche were “not true”.
Coun Bell promised that the authority was about to start a major public consultation on the scheme and wanted to make the city centre “accessible for all”, with people’s views to be considered before a final version of the Blackett Street vision is signed off.
He also ruled out the street being closed under an experimental order that could be imposed without any prior public consultation, a method the council used last year in establishing a series of ‘Low Traffic Neighborhoods’.
Graham Grant, the council’s head of transport, added that the impending consultation will last longer than the minimum three weeks required under law and that it would include drop-in sessions, webinars, a phone line where people can leave their views, and meetings with disability and older people’s groups.
The overview and scrutiny committee also heard from Lemington councillor Jason Smith, who said Blackett Street’s previous temporary closures were a “disaster”.
Alison Blackburn, of the Newcastle Disability Forum, said she was satisfied with the council’s commitment to consult on the plans, while Barbara Douglas of the Elders Council called for “adequate and clear information” on how a reconfigured city centre will work.
Alistair Ford, of the Public Transport Users Group, also said detail was needed on where new bus stops would be located and where buses would be rerouted to.
The committee unanimously agreed against referring the cabinet’s decision back for reconsideration, having been satisfied with the commitment to consult with the public, meaning the consultation can now proceed.
Article originally appeared on the Chronicle live.
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