TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Traffic management continues to be ‘tweaked.’ Following reports of vehicles using the cut from lower Queen Street to George Street to avoid the one way system, this is to become a No Entry point which will ensure greater pedestrian safety there. The Sustrans Cycle Route is still in a review process but NCC Area Committee agreed that the contraflow system along Leazes/Coquet Street should be changed; we await the report looking into this and also for improvements to the cycle routes in general. The petition to change the waiting time in Queen Street was delegated back to Town Council who have recommended no change to NCC. We continue to lobby NCC to finance a town centre car park; as a main hub for this area we are dismayed to find funding being considered to increase the parking offer for other places such as Alnwick, Morpeth, Blyth and Hexham who already have substantial central parking. Officers are very willing to talk and look at sites but the bottom line as usual is money- money to buy the land needed and then money to develop it; but we will battle on.