Newcastle's Blackett Street pedestrianisation plan shelved

13 October 2022

News image — Blackett Street is currently a busy route for buses

BBC View down Blackett Street showing buses — Blackett Street is currently a busy route for buses

Plans to permanently pedestrianise a busy city centre street have been shelved following a change in a council's leadership.

Newcastle City Council had wanted to ban vehicles from Blackett Street until leader Nick Forbes was ousted.

Now the scheme, which was opposed by bus company Stagecoach, is to be "deferred" under new leader Nick Kemp.

A report for the council's cabinet said it was still an ambition to have a central pedestrianised zone.

The report said the Blackett Street plans would be "deferred until such time as it can be fully funded and brought forward as part of a comprehensive package of measures to promote a connected, clean city", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It added the "political ambition to implement a central pedestrianised zone with pocket parks and green spaces that makes the city more family and child friendly is still held", but would be rolled into a "revised, ambitious offer" that also includes a raft of upgrades to Newcastle's bus and cycling infrastructure.

Newcastle City Council Artist impression of the pedestrianised street — Newcastle City Council had wanted to pedestrianise Blackett Street as depicted in this artist's impression

Blackett Street was temporarily made into a vehicle-free zone during summer events and for the city's 2019 Christmas markets.

While supporters said that a permanent pedestrianisation would better promote walking and cycling, there have been fears about potential congestion caused by pushing buses on to a new loop around the city centre and making access harder for elderly and disabled people.

Bus company Stagecoach, the main objector to the closure and whose opposition meant a public inquiry would be needed to proceed, had claimed to have lost 120,000 passengers when Blackett Street was shut in winter 2019.

Some 700 people responded to an online council survey about the plans - with 287 objecting, 276 in support, and 137 undecided.

The council said it would now "work with bus operators and other stakeholders" on revised plans, potentially including a new bus station in the city, but would "still be prepared to go to public inquiry in the future".