HWJRA – Page 6 – High West Jesmond

June 1, 2019June 9, 2019

Killingworth Road re-opens for southbound traffic

A key commuter route has finally re-opened – but only for one way traffic southbound coming into Newcastle.

The improvements are part of Newcastle City Council’s plans to improve key junctions across the city – the so-called “Northern Access Corridor” from the Blue House Roundabout, Jesmond Dene Road to Haddricks Mill and beyond.

You can read more about the previous plans from August 2016 for the Blue House Roadabout and Jesmond Dene Road elsewhere on this website.

The following announcement has been made by Newcastle City Council:

As construction work is still ongoing, Newcastle City Council have a phased opening for the A189 in South Gosforth.

Initially only southbound traffic (towards Newcastle city centre) will be allowed on Killingworth Road, with two-way traffic using the road from later in the summer.

Cabinet member for transport and air quality, Cllr Arlene Ainsley said: “It’s great to have Killingworth Road re-opened after its extended closure due to over-running gas works, which has been frustrating for commuters and people living nearby.

“The phased opening allows people on foot and bikes full access with southbound traffic only. Two-way traffic will be back on the road later in the summer when there is enough space to run traffic safely alongside our construction teams.

“Once complete, the project will have addressed a major bottle-neck and maintenance issue on our highways network and provided more sustainable travel choices to help address air quality issues in the local area.”

The council are investing over £13.5m to address maintenance issues and widen a well-known pinch point on the network which caused congestion and delays on one of the city’s busiest roads.

The programme of works included the installation of a new wider Metro bridge, diversion of major gas pipes which severely delayed the project, as well as the widening of the road to install a bus lane and improved facilities for those on foot and bikes.

As part of the closure bus services were re-routed. Stagecoach bus services will keep to their diversion routes but Arriva services 54, X7 and X8 are advising passengers of changes to their routes towards Newcastle.

Construction will continue until 2020.

The above news story was issued by Newcastle City Council and included on the Newcastle City Council website. It has been included here for information and does not necessarily represent the views of High West Jesmond Residents’ Association.

April 26, 2019

Walk the bounds 2019 – a tour of High West Jesmond

Join us for a fascinating tour of High West Jesmond and learn more about the history of our community

We are delighted to invite you to our 2019 walking tour of ‘the bounds’ of High West Jesmond.

This will once again be led by Chris Morgan who residents will remember led us on a facinating tour during 2018. Chris has also kindly shared some of his photographs of High West Jesmond’s past that we have featured on this website.

Date: Sunday 2 June 2019

Time: 10.30am

Meeting place: outside Delicious Decadence, Newlands Road, NE2 3NT

The tour will take approximately 2 hours and will explain the last 200 years of this special area on the border of Jesmond and Gosforth.

It will be illustrated with many old photographs and tales from Chris Morgan’s personal memory and those of his mother who played here before many of the houses were built.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday 3 June.

Download a copy of the Walking the Bounds of High West Jesmond event poster here.

April 9, 2019April 9, 2019

Local elections – register to vote by 12 April

Local elections will be held in Newcastle upon Tyne on Thursday 2 May 2019.

Newcastle City Council elections

One seat in each of the Council’s 26 wards will be up for election.

This includes the Dene and South Gosforth ward that High West Jesmond is part of.

Ensure that you are registered to vote by 12 April 2019.

Find out more information on the Newcastle City Council website.

Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland Combined Authority Mayoral Election 2019

On 2 May 2019 there will be a mayoral election for the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

People who are registered to vote in local elections for any of the three councils: Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland are eligible to vote.

Find out more details of the mayoral election on the North of Tyne Combined Authority website.

How to register to vote

To vote in the elections to be held on Thursday 2 May 2019 you must be registered by Friday 12 April 2019.

You can now register to vote online in as little as 3 minutes on the GOV.UK website. All you need is your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number.

March 28, 2019March 31, 2019

Blue House roundabout plans ‘on hold’

The Evening Chronicle has reported that the plans to overhaul Newcastle’s Blue House roundabout are ‘on hold’ because of the city’s pollution issues.

Newcastle City Council first unveiled its plans to make major changes to the Blue House Roundabout in 2016.

‘Mega roundabout’ on the Town Moor

The original plans were for a so-called ‘mega roundabout’ to be built on the Town Moor.

There was substantial concern from local residents and huge protests took place which saw the original proposals abandoned.

High West Jesmond Residents Assiciation (HWJRA) represented the views of local residents at the time and opposed the 2016 plans.

Subsequently HWJRA, together with Jesmond Residents Association, West Gosforth Residents Association and others were represented on the Blue House Working Group which was then set up to consider alternative suggestions.

You can read a background summary on the Blue House Roundabout here.

Blue House Working Group made proposals

It’s now more than a year since an the alternative proposal from the Blue House Working Group was unveiled and it was expected that a response from Newcastle City Council would be announced soon.

It was anticipated that final designs for Blue House roundabout were being developed and modelled based on recommendations from the working group set up following the backlash to original proposals in the summer of 2016.

And these final plans were anticipated to be publicised this summer.

‘On hold’

The Evening Chronicle has reported that plans for the Blue House roundabout have been put ‘on hold’.

Read more on the Evening Chronicle website: Blue House roundabout on hold due to pollution crisis

We need to ‘take into account air quality’

The Evening Chronicle reported on 28 March 2019 that Graham Grant, Head of Transport Investment, told a Newcastle City Council Oversight and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday that:

“We need to take into account the consultation on air quality.

At the moment, both the Blue House roundabout and Haddricks Mill both feature as part of the Clean Air Zone – we have been clear that we are open to different ideas and interpretations and are consulting on an alternative.

“We need to understand where we are going with that piece of work before we can commit to the design of the Blue House roundabout.

We have said that we will deliver improvements there not all at the same time — we are doing Killingworth Road, then Haddricks Mill, then Blue House roundabout.

We feel that we have sufficient time to take into account the outcomes of the air quality work before we finalise proposals.”

You can read a background summary on the Blue House Roundabout here.

March 27, 2019March 27, 2019

Parks and allotments trust on track for April handover

Newcastle Parks and Allotments Trust is ‘on track’ to take over running of Newcastle upon Tyne’s parks and allotments in April 2019

The city council plans to transfer many parks and allotments to the new Newcastle Parks and Allotments Trust. The new organisation will be responsible for developing and caring for future generations.

Read Newcastle Parks and Allotments Trust Chief Executive named.

Read Parks and green spaces make vital contribution to local communities

Valley and Little Dene not part of planned transfer

Not all green open spaces in Newcastle upon Tyne will transfer to the new Trust.

Green open spaces that are NOT scheduled to transfer include the well-used community asset known as the Valley and Little Dene, High West Jesmond.

The Valley and Little Dene (along with Little Dene Park which is owned by the Freeman) form part of the urban wildlife corridor through the north of Newcastle and continue to be well used and highly valued by local residents.

Read about the work of the Friends of the Valley, Little Dene and Little Dene Park (FOVALD) in caring for these open spaces in High West Jesmond.

NAWG minutes report

The minutes of the 7 February 2019 meeting of the Newcastle Allotments Working Group noted that:

“The meeting commenced with a presentation by James Cross, the new CEO of the Parks and Allotments Trust, who was pleased to introduce himself to the group, and Tony Durcan, NCC [Newcastle City Council].

TD updated the meeting on the latest progress. The Trust was now fully constituted, the Board was up and running having had a meeting in January and the new CEO James Cross had taken up his post on 3^rd December 2018.

Its Constitution now activated, March 2019 would see the Trading Company section of the Trust applying for charitable status.

Key issues of work still to be achieved, include the agreement that is currently in place on the Duke of Northumberland’s land and a further meeting with the Freemen to discuss the ‘Wartime’ sites.

A Trust strategy meeting was being held on 21^st March. NAWG [Newcastle Allotments Working Group] representatives would be invited. JC had begun visits to all allotments and asked for details of allotment waiting lists to assess the need throughout the City.

On track for 1 April 2019 handover

James Cross, the new Chief Executive of Newcastle Parks and Allotments Trust

The Parks and Allotments Trust management was still on track for a 1^st April handover.

Two NAWG representatives on the Community Representation Group were proposed: Paul Herbertson (west) and Donald Robinson (east) to be ratified during the normal business of this NAWG meeting. CRG findings would be reported to the Board each month. JC also confirmed NAWG as a constituted group which would continue to operate.

Budgets – there was a £2 million cost across parks and allotments per year. Any Council surplus has not been used elsewhere to date.

Under the Trust, funds raised from rents would be reinvested into Parks and Allotments, with priority being given to allotments when/where necessary.

JC confirmed any local revenue raised on allotments e.g. open days, trading hut, would be retained by individual sites. JC also confirmed that better resourced Trust officers responsible for allotments would have a defined budget with continued monthly reporting. JC also confirmed that he had had conversations with all potential key funders already.”

The extract above from the minutes of the Newcastle Allotments Working Group (NAWG) 7 February 2019 meeting was issued by NAWG and included on the NAWG website. It has been included here for information and does not necessarily represent the views of High West Jesmond Residents’ Association.

March 14, 2019

Notice of Annual General Meeting on 8 April 2019

The next Annual general Meeting of High West Jesmond Residents Association (HWJRA) will be held at the Trinity Church on Gosforth High Street at 7pm on 8 April 2019 at 7pm.

All members are invited and anybody who is a resident of High West Jesmond* and wants to join the association is welcome to come along.

(* Please note that, for the purposes of the Residents Association, it is planned, at the AGM, to define High West Jesmond as the area bounded by Lodore Road to the west and Honister Avenue to the East. The area comprising Beatty Avenue, Sturdee Gardens, Keyes Gardens, Cromer Gardens, Hillcrest Gardens, Willowbank Gardens and Matthew Bank is covered by the Admirals Five Residents Association.

Not a member? Why not join HWJRA?

HWJRA is one of the most successful residents’ associations in Newcastle upon Tyne.

There are approximately 600 households in our area and, from that, we have approximately 180 members. This rates very highly compared to several other associations.

That said, we would still like more members. It costs nothing to join and is by far the easiest way for you to keep in touch with local news and events.

If you live in our area and would like to join the association then all you need to do is send an email with your name, postal address and email address to our membership secretary, Jeffrey Fox.

You can contact Jeffrey through our HWJRA Facebook group or via the Contact section of this website.

Would you like to join the Residents’ Association Committee?

HWJRA are looking for some new committee members to inject some fresh thinking and to ensure a better balance of representation of all ages from across our area.

Being on the committee does not involve a significant time commitment – around 6 meetings a year – and it’s a great way to get to know the people in the area and keep up to date with what is happening locally.

If you would be interested in joining the committee then please let our membership secretary, Jeffrey Fox know.

You can contact Jeffrey through our HWJRA Facebook group or via the Contact section of this website.