Newcastle City Council has published its plans to give more space to customers visiting Gosforth High Street, to allow remaining shops to open safely and comply with the Government's physical distancing rules. Read more [...] Enabling Businesses to Open Safely on Gosforth High Street
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Newcastle City Council has published its plans to give more space to customers visiting Gosforth High Street, to allow remaining shops to open safely and comply with the Government's physical distancing rules. Read more [...] 
In December 2015, responding to the Council's initial consultation, we said "Currently this is a busy dual carriageway with frequent busses and fast-moving traffic: it is hard for pedestrians to cross and is largely unsuited to all but the bravest of cyclists." Now crossing is easier and local residents can cycle safely in relative comfort along this stretch of road, and it is now one of the few places in Newcastle where it is possible to cycle safely along a main road. 
In our last blog we shared how city transport planners are responding to COVID-19. In this blog we look at how people in Gosforth are using streets differently because of the pandemic and what Newcastle City Council could implement quickly in the short term to support that.
Although our own movements are as restricted as everyone else, we have been able to use the on-line traffic cameras from the Urban Observatory to see how people are using streets in certain locations.T 
The Government and Council's initial response to COVID-19 has been, quite rightly, to ensure people are safe and well, protect jobs and critical services, and to minimise the spread of the virus. Already by mid-April 2020 the virus has killed thousands of people in the UK alone, and left unchecked would kill many many more. 
From Monday 23 March, the UK Government ordered all non-essential businesses to close to reduce the further spread of coronavirus. While most people will agree this is necessary, the potential consequences for businesses are significant. This is true both for businesses that have to close and those that can remain open but have to adapt quickly to new hygiene requirements. 
In January SPACE for Gosforth submitted a response to the Council's Call for Evidence relating to Climate Change. In this blog we look back at some of our earlier blogs that are relevant to climate change. 
In April 2019 Newcastle City Council declared a Climate Emergency. This included a pledge to make Newcastle upon Tyne carbon neutral by 2030, taking into account both production and consumption emissions. How to meet the target will be informed by the Council's call for evidence for how to tackle climate change. This blog sets out the SPACE for Gosforth response to that call for evidence. 
Newcastle City Council have proposed that Blackett Street and parts of New Bridge Street are made into a pedestrian area linking Northumberland Street, Monument and Old Eldon Square. This blog is our response to the Council's consultation. 
In 2019 we started to track local media stories about people hurt or killed in road traffic collisions in Newcastle. As it turns out, there are quite a lot of them. 
We have had a look at the political manifestoes for the forthcoming general election on Thursday 12 December to see what they say about walking and cycling. In recent years there has been remarkable political alignment from all parties about the need to prioritise and encourage walking and cycling. What has been largely lacking is a budget to go with it.