eFocus Whickham, Dunston, Sunniside, Swalwell, Marley Hill, Lobley Hill and Byermoor February 2019 no. 113

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Labour gives greenlight for Chase Park house-building

Gateshead's planning committee debate on proposals for housing principle to go ahead on Chase Park, Whickham. Apologies for the variable sound quality.

Labour councillors on Gateshead Council's planning committee have given the green light to building up to six houses on the depot area and former stable block in Chase Park. The controversial plans were moved at the meeting on 30th January by Labour Councillor Chris McHugh. Your local Lib Dem Focus Team has opposed the plans.

The decision means that "in principle" the site is now approved for housing development but detailed plans will now need to be submitted for the number of houses (up to six) and their designs. The Rectory Lane entrance is included in the development area.

"We do not believe this is the end of this issue," said Lib Dem Councillor Peter Maughan. "When the former Whickham Council took over the Chase Hall and its grounds in 1937, they were transferred on trust for the benefit of the people of Whickham.

"Gateshead, as the successor to Whickham Council, is not free to sell any part of the park. If a sale to a developer is carried out, it is likely to be legally challenged."

Lib Dem Councillor Peter Craig said, "Lib Dems have argued that the area Labour have designated for housing should remain an integral part of Chase Park. Local community groups should be given the opportunity to use this site for the benefit of the local area, rather than this to be given up to housing.”

Lib Dem campaigner Vicky Anderson said, "Labour's approach appears to be to leave buildings to become derelict and use the resulting anti-social activity as an excuse to flog off the site to developers rather than searching for a community use.

"Just look at the way Labour neglected Dunston Hill School. A charity is wanting to use that site for a cancer treatment but Labour had consistently dragged their feet on it."

Fellside Road reopened

Cllr Jonathan Wallace welcomed the early reopening of Fellside Road.

We are pleased to report that Fellside Road has been reopened. The road had been closed from 9.30am to 3.30am from 28th January with roadworks expected to take place until 11th February.

But concerns about the impact on local businesses and extra traffic in Byermoor, Marley Hill and Sunniside saw Cllr Jonathan Wallace intervene to see if work could be changed to night time, delayed or speeded up.

Following this, highway officers agreed to increase the resources available to speed up the work. The result was that the work was completed by Friday 1st February.

"The road is now reopened," said Jonathan. "Some roadside signage has been taken away for repair and will need to be reinstalled. There is no timetable for this but officers have assured me that when the work takes place, the road will not be closed. Instead, temporary traffic lights will be in operation, allowing Fellside Road to remain open."

Call for A1 air clean up

Lib Dem campaigner Vicky Anderson with Councillors Peter Maughan and Kevin McClurey on the site of the former Clasper Village in Gateshead. She is astonished Labour are pushing to build more houses on former greenbelt sites, while Clasper Village and the Chandless Estate have been demolished and still stand empty!

Air pollution along the A1 corridor in Dunston and Swalwell is at illegally high levels. It is one of a number of locations in the North East where action is needed to clean up what we breathe.

But Labour’s plans for huge numbers of new houses on local countryside is likely to add more pollution to the air, argue local Lib Dems.

“Instead of building houses on brownfield sites in central Gateshead closer to good public transport links, Labour are pushing through plans to build on our countryside, such as Dunston Hill,” said Lib Dem campaigner Vicky Anderson.

“That means more people travelling into Tyneside to go to work, more cars on the roads and more air pollution.

“If Labour had pushed through plans to build houses on cleared sites such as Clasper Village and the Chandless Estate in central Gateshead, more people would be living closer to where they work.

“Instead, they are approving plans for lots of new houses on the edges of small towns and villages in western Gateshead, forcing more people to travel further to work.”

Lib Dem Cllr Chris Ord said, "Gateshead Council are due to consider plans later this month to tackle emissions around the Tyne Bridge where air pollution is also at illegal levels. Possible solutions could include charging the most polluting vehicles or banning them.

"The Government, rather than Gateshead Council, are responsible for the A1 but have not yet put forward any proposals for tackling air pollution."

"The Government have ordered Gateshead Council to improve air quality on the Tyne Bridge but have put forward no proposals for the A1, a road for which ministers are responsible." - Cllr Chris Ord

Council budget update

Labour spent £700,000 on a car park in Gateshead that no one uses.

In late February Gateshead Council will decide their budget for the forthcoming year. Currently, the Labour-run Council are putting forward many proposals, including:

Getting rid of the pest control service
Ending all maintenance of bowls and football pitches
Cutting the street lighting repairs budget
Cutting support for voluntary groups
Cutting opening hours and books at council run libraries
Cutting support for young people with mental health issues

However, the above may change and Lib Dem Councillors - who are the only opposition at Gateshead Council - will be scrutinising the final budget proposals very carefully.

Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition in Gateshead, Jonathan Wallace, said “Although the Council face some tough financial challenges, they are wasting huge sums of money on various projects, such as a £700,000 car park near the Quayside that no one uses and the £1 million Civic Centre refurbishment. They need to focus on what matters most to residents, and cut Council waste”.

Sunniside table top sale

This Saturday, 9th February, there will be a table top sale at Sunniside Methodist Hall, from 10.30am to 12.30pm. All welcome. Funds raised will pay towards the maintenance of the hall.

Dunston Station platform to be extended

More passenger trains will be calling at Dunston Station in the near future after work is carried out to extend the platform. The current length has restricted the number of services able to call at Dunston but work will start on 23rd February to create a longer platform.

"This is great news for Dunston," said Cllr Kevin McClurey (pictured above with Cllr Peter Maughan). "We have been calling for additional services to call at Dunston and we are pleased Network Rail have listened to us.

"We are now pressing the bus and train companies to work together to ensure bus and rail timetables are integrated and tickets can be used on both."

The work is scheduled to be completed on 3rd March. Network Rail are carrying out a consultation event for residents at Dunston Activity Centre, 5pm-7.30pm on Tuesday 12th February.

Camera view of local roads

A website showing up to date images from traffic cameras around the North East is available to be viewed by residents. The site includes images from cameras at the following local locations:

Potters Wheel, Sunniside
Fellside Road/Whickham Front Street junction
top of Lobley Hill/Whickham Highway junction
A1 near Metrocentre.

"Given the snow we have endured recently, this website can be used by residents to check on the state of local roads," said Lib Dem Councillor Chris Ord.

You can visit the site on this link.