Commonplace Jesmond East Trials Consultation Platform
Commonplace is working in partnership with Newcastle City Council to collate the public's responses to the LTN. There are so many great messages on there that point out the failures of the scheme.
Please post your response on Commonplace by clicking the link below.
Commonplace Comments
It is so important that people leave their comments and views on the Commonplace Website.
Below is a comment which has just been posted and is heart-breaking. There have been quite a few harrowing experiences of crimes being reported in the area since the LTN but this is another level and is so shocking to read.
Whilst the council fob off reports as 'anecdotal' and want to use (often fudged) data to reinforce their plans this persons experiences cannot be brushed under the carpet.
What is worrying is the data does not show the extremities of the actual crime, the pain and suffering caused or the real life experiences people face daily.
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This is disastrous to my life and many others. I have been a resident of Jesmond since I was 7 years old. My family live near North Jesmond Avenue and I live near Jesmond Dene Road. Jesmond has been split in two. 3 reasons I object:
1. I am cut off from my family and community
2. Safety - we have been burgled twice in the last 6 months - you can confirm with Northumbria police - it was serious. Police needed to get to us as they beat down our door with crow bars and masks whilst we barricaded our doors. Does someone need to die? What if there had been a fire? I also no longer feel safe walking at night out of fear as a woman that I could be attacked. What was a thriving bustling area, it now feels extremely unsafe.
3. I have been cut off from: - My family - My church (Holy Name) - My library - My friends - Swimming Pool - My local community,
I am now forced to add to climate change, which I resent, a journey that would take 5-10 minutes now takes 40 minutes, I am waiting in traffic and if this road was cut off (like the latest burst water pipes on Jesmond Road or works at the top of Osborne Road) we would be stuck - completely. My mother has been diagnosed with cancer and I need to be there, provide support, shopping etc. I have to pick my 5 year old niece from school, not possible to walk - It has made my life a nightmare. Other people no longer want to travel to my home as they are stuck in traffic, isolating me further. I have been a conscientious tax payer all my life and to think I could potentially be supporting something that makes my life as a resident a nightmare and makes no sense at all - for people, safety, the environment. No sense. Please, please remove all bollards and allow our lives to return to normal.
There were no issues walking or cycling in Jesmond prior to the LTN. So it hasn’t solved any issues, it’s created them. Kids in the nursery on Osborne Road are now subject to more pollution. Workers have to experience significantly increased journey times to and from work, which erodes family time. Vulnerable people, the elderly or those unable to walk or cycle are discriminated against as they are cut off from their service providers. Businesses are suffering due to reduced footfall or customers cancelling as they cannot reach on time. Most importantly we know for a fact that the police have said they can no longer police Jesmond effectively. It will be the same for ambulance and fire services- this has already been witnessed in real life. No LTN scheme is worth more than the life of a person.
I live in North Heaton and getting out towards the A1, the city centre or anywhere vaguely west is now almost impossible at peak times both in the morning and evening. The traffic build up is frankly crazy and directly proportional to these measures coming in place. I am all for lower traffic areas and I understand the benefits they can provide, but taking an all or nothing approach as currently in place has caused mayhem with no real alternative journeys for those who live locally to take. It’s a mess and needs to rectified as soon as possible.
A friend of mine called an ambulance, it was bad enough having to deal with emergency, but to then find out that the ambulance was delayed because the medical driving the ambulance didn't know they needed keys to get through the bollards. Sooner or later someone will die. Maybe they you will take notice.
I can't even enjoy what should be a relaxing Sunday. Traffic has been backed up on all of the roads and the air quality is noticeably worse. Walking through Jesmond was not pleasant with the increased traffic, the additional noise, the horrible smells of exhausts and cars driving at speed down my and neighbouring streets, making it dangerous for me as a pedestrian.
Local businesses are suffering, people’s journey’s to and from work have increased by 15/20 mins, congestion on surrounding roads has increased dramatically causing stationary traffic and increased pollution, criminals are using closed off roads as escape routes from police pursuit vehicles, access for emergency services is seriously impeded. In fact I can think of no positives for this ludicrous scheme whatsoever!
Today there was absolute mayhem on the roads of Jesmond. We had to change all of our plans as we simply could not get out of Jesmond as there was total gridlock. And while NCC will do doubt say this was a one off event, chaos like this did not happen before the imposition of the LTN. It is so unfair to have to change all of our plans because of this badly thought out LTN. But far worse is the fact that it now feels so unsafe living in Jesmond. Watching today as an ambulance was completely stuck in the traffic brought it home that people’s lives are at stake here. Of course response times will be significantly slower and that means that sooner or later, the ambulance will not make it in time. Or the police or fire fighters will not be able to respond swiftly to a sudden emergency. This LTN needs to be rethought before lives are lost.
As someone who pushed a wheelchair user around the streets of Jesmond regularly I can state the traffic was never an issue except for the number of parked cars. This has not changed since the bollards went in. The state of the pavements and kerbs is another matter, they are dreadful and make wheelchair transport very difficult and unsafe. I would far rather the money had been spent on improving those things.