Newcastle City Council will not give up on pedestrianisation
Council bosses have not given up on major pedestrianisation plans in Newcastle city centre, despite shelving a bid to ban traffic from one of its busiest streets.
Proposals to block vehicles from using Blackett Street had been in the works for years, before being put on ice last October.
The plans had attracted objections from bus operators whose services use the route and were also complicated by the massive redevelopment works on Pilgrim Street that will see an enormous HMRC office complex built.
But city councillors were told on Monday that officials are still keen to push ahead with a significant pedestrianisation project running east to west across the city centre.
David Theobald, Newcastle City Council’s assistant director for capital investment, said that civic centre leaders “aren’t going to give up” on the vision after working on it for so long.
The council said last year that the Blackett Street project would be “deferred until such time as it can be fully funded and brought forward as part of a comprehensive package of measures”.
The blueprint for a greener and less polluted city centre also includes gradually removing all traffic from Grey Street to create a huge space dedicated for walking and cycling.
Council chiefs had secured money from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF) for the Blackett Scheme scheme – but the decision to put it on hold means that cash will have to be spent elsewhere to avoid it being clawed back.
More than ÂŁ10m of LUF had been earmarked for Blackett Street and a major redesign of Old Eldon Square, which was also dropped after a change at the top of the council that saw Nick Kemp become leader in 2022.
Mr Theobald told the council’s economy, jobs and skills scrutiny committee that the authority was now “concentrating the funding on Northumberland Street”, where there have been plans to install a row of 50ft lighting pillars as well as more trees, plants, and seating through the city’s main shopping area.
The investment boss added that he wanted that work finished “by the back end of next year” and confirmed that Government permission had been secured to extend the deadline for spending the LUF money beyond the expected March 2024.
There has also been talk of redirecting some of the unused LUF cash towards enhancements around the Grainger Market, which was itself already due for a ÂŁ7m set of improvements from the successful bid.
It is still yet to be announced what upgrades will be made inside the market, but Mr Theobald said work would begin at the end of this year.
At Monday’s meeting, Lib Dem councillor Peter Lovatt raised concerns about people not being able to get into the city centre once the thousands of HMRC jobs are moved to Pilgrim Street, due to a lack of bus services in some areas.
Committee chair Greg Stone also said he feared that the council is struggling to deliver on major projects because of a lack of staff.
Mr Theobald admitted that it is a “challenging” situation but said he was “reasonably confident we can continue to deliver on our objectives going forward”.
The latest stage in the city centre’s overhaul was announced last week, with work due to start within days on a redesign of the southern section of Pilgrim Street.
A ÂŁ6.2m project will see the route resurfaced and paved, a new two-way cycle lane installed, the subway between the Swan House and Pilgrim Street closed and filled in, and improvements made to pedestrian crossing facilities.
That work is due to start next Monday, June 19, and will last until summer 2024.
The huge regeneration of the Pilgrim Street area has also included the building of the new Bank House offices, and will soon see the old fire station and Worswick Chambers transformed into a new hotel and bars.