2021 HWJRA Annual Report

It’s been two years since our last AGM (the 2020 AGM falling victim to the pandemic) and during this time the Association has been a little less visible than normal as there have been no public meetings and only one newsletter.

However, our social media presence has continued as usual and behind the scenes HWJRA has continued to work with local authorities and stakeholders on various issues of concern to our local community.

HWJRA committee

I would like to record my thanks to the officers and committee who have served for the past two years.

The work is all voluntary and the time put in by officers and committee members is greatly appreciated – so thanks to Fiona Bruce, Jeffrey Fox, Andrew Jackson, Dawn Dunn, John Stephenson, Ian Cavanagh, Katherine Shipley and Cornelia Moosman.

Thanks to FOVALD’s Lending a Hand group

I would also like to record particular thanks to John Stephenson and the Lending A Hand team who work so hard to keep the area’s green spaces clean, tidy and thriving.

This time of year in High West Jesmond is a particular delight with all the blossom and flowers on display and the Lending A Hand team, in combination with Mother Nature, play a significant part in keeping the area so beautiful.

Join HWJRA

We are always keen to expand membership so if you know of a local resident who isn’t a member then please do encourage them to join.

All they need to do is to email our membership secretary Jeffrey Fox with their name, contact details and address (which must be in High West Jesmond).

You can send a message to us through our Contact page on this website.

High West Jesmond during lockdown

COVID-19 response

It feels like a distant memory now, but at the very beginning of the pandemic there was a lot of uncertainty about what was going to happen and how people would go about their basic day-to-day lives.

A local volunteer group was established to assist people who were unable to get shopping or deal with routine matters and HWJRA distributed details to residents.

Our Facebook group (High West Jesmond Residents Association), website (highwestjesmond.co.uk) and Twitter feed (@highwestjesmond) have also proven to be useful for residents to keep in touch during a time when physical contact has been difficult.

North Shore coffee

As lockdown continued, our area became increasingly popular as a place for people to meet, have a chat, take exercise, and have a coffee.

It has been lovely to see the area’s green spaces put to such good use and the arrival of the North Shore Coffee van gave a particular focus to the Little Moor area.

Larger crowds have an impact on an area so HWJRA has worked hard to try to ensure a balance between promoting the area as a great place to live and visit, whilst maintaining the character of a quiet, leafy residential suburb.

We have liaised closely with Toby, who runs North Shore Coffee, to ensure that he does everything he can to enforce social distancing and to encourage residents to dispose of litter thoughtfully.

Toby has been responsive to all requests from the Association including providing additional bins and making plans (soon to be implemented) for re-turfing areas of grass that have been worn away by people queuing at the van.

The vast majority of feedback that the Association has received about the coffee van has been positive and we are pleased that the owner has been so pro-active and responsive to our requests.

Litter

Lockdown has seen a significant increase in usage of the Little Moor by dog walkers and people meeting for drinks and picnics.

Again, while this is welcome, the amount of waste this produces has had an impact.

We have liaised with the council on several occasions to get the frequency of bin emptying on Little Moor increased and the Lending A Hand team, along with several community-spirited residents, have been out on the green spaces collecting litter left behind by less thoughtful visitors.

Trees

We have maintained our strong links with Mark Todd and the team at Urban Green Newcastle who are responsible for managing the trees in the area.

Mark liaises with us when any remedial work is necessary on local trees such as recent pruning work. The trees are a great asset and we have found the Urban Green team very sympathetic to requests to maintain and, where appropriate, replace trees in our area.

City Fibre

In Autumn 2020, the area was fitted out with high-speed fibre optic cable by a company called City Fibre.

Whilst the addition of high-speed fibre cable is a positive thing for the area, we were concerned about the condition some of the pavements and green spaces had been left in after the fitting had occurred.

This was particularly the case with the ill-judged positioning of the cable boxes on Little Dene which were limiting access to the footpath.

Fortunately, we found the installation team at City Fibre to be responsive to our requests for remedial work to be done and the cable boxes have now been relocated and additional work to areas of road and pavement has been implemented.

Anti social behaviour

Without doubt, the biggest issue of concern to residents over this past year has been the unwelcome and very significant increase in anti-social behaviour.

Particular “hotspots” have been around the metro station (Albury Road/Honister Avenue/Ilford Road) and on the Little Moor and its allotments.

Gangs of youths have been causing damage to property, lighting fires, threatening residents and in a couple of extreme cases there has been physical violence against residents and allotment holders.

The Residents Association has good links with our community police team but as things got significantly worse in Spring 2021 we escalated matters and sought the involvement of our councillors (Henry Gallagher, Wendy Taylor and Karen Robinson), our Member of Parliament (Catherine McKinnell), our local police sergeant (Euan Faulke), the Neighbourhood Team at Newcastle City Council and (via Catherine McKinnell) the Chief Superintendent at Northumbria Police Centre Area Command (Sav Patsalos).

At time of writing (and with fingers firmly crossed) it looks like this escalation and higher-level involvement has been beneficial as the past 2-3 weeks has seen a significant increase in police presence and a reduction in the incidence of anti-social behaviour.

The police have made several interventions including dispersal orders, alcohol confiscation, arrests and follow-ups at local schools. We are very encouraged by this but want to ensure that this sort of activity continues and so will remain in close contact with the relevant authorities.

Local traffic and Streets for People

One area that has not progressed at all during lockdown is the Streets for People project.

Residents may recall that a lot of time was spent liaising with local people and the council to come up with some solutions to the problems of high-speed traffic on Ilford Road and Moorfield as well as excessive parking by commuters using the area as a car park.

The issue of parking has been much reduced during lockdown (though it may well reoccur once everything opens back up).

However, the issue of speeding traffic has not got any better and the Association has received several communications from residents about the increase in high-speed cars, vans and lorries in our area.

It’s disappointing that the previously promised interventions have now been postponed and that the council’s focus has been on other areas such as Jesmond and Heaton.

Whilst we understand that there will always be competing priorities in this area, we will continue to put pressure on the council to recognise the issues we have locally as they are not insignificant.

One issue that has proven controversial is the closure of several bridges during lockdown. The closest bridges to our area are Stoneyhurst Road and Castles Farm Road.

The Association has not got directly involved in the debate on either of these bridge closures as they are outside our area, however we have circulated information on the consultation and encouraged residents who feel strongly on the issue to respond to the council.

Committee 2021-22

During the past year, two committee members resigned as they moved away from the area (Katherine Shipley and Ian Cavanagh).

The following members of the committee have all agreed to stand again for 2021-22 – Fiona Bruce, Jeffrey Fox, Andrew Jackson, Dawn Dunn, John Stephenson, Cornelia Moosman.

The following people have put their names forward to serve on the committee also – Michael Hutchinson, Maureen McKenna, Victoria Nemeth.

Conclusion

It has been a very difficult year for many people, and we remain uncertain as to how long lockdown restrictions (in whatever form) will continue.

However, despite this, the Residents Association continues to function, and it has been able to ensure that, where necessary, interventions are made to safeguard and promote the local area and its residents.

Our finances remain in a sound position and our links with local authorities and stakeholders remain strong and positive.

We take great pride in the area we represent and live in and will continue to do so over the next 12 months.

Nick Moore
Chair – High West Jesmond Residents’ Association
May 2021

November 28, 2017

Streets for People – HWJRA submits views from residents’ meeting

During the consultation period of proposed changes to streets in High West Jesmond as part of the Streets for People initiative HWJRA held a residents meeting on Monday 13 November 2017.

The meeting was held at Jesmond Library and was well attended.

HWJRA organised the event so that residents had the opportunity to find out more about the proposals for Moorfield and Ilford Road, ask questions and hear others views.

Following the meeting HWJRA submitted the views from the residents to Streets for People so that these could be taken into account before the consultation period closes on 30 November 2017.

A copy of the HWJRA submission is shown below.

The Moorfield and Ilford Road proposal from Streets for People

Read a summary of the proposal in the Moorfield Information Sheet:

Your feedback is wanted

The Streets for People initiative want to hear from you and you can provide feedback via their website. You have until 30 November 2017 to submit your feedback.

Residents’ views as submitted by HWJRA

The following in a summary of the HWJRA Meeting which was held to discuss the Streets for People Proposal – 13/11/2017:

Present:

Ilford Rd/Moorfield (15 residents)
Lodore/Treherne/Albemarle/Kingswood/Newlands (13 residents)
Albury/Honister/Woodthorne (4 residents)
Councillor Henry Gallagher
Total (32 residents plus 1 councillor)

The S4P proposal was explained in detail and then the group were invited to discuss and express their views, looking at each of the main aspects of the proposal separately.

1. Ilford Road/Moorfield Junction

All agreed that there was an issue of safety at this junction and welcomed the proposal to improve this.

The group was split 1/3 in favour, 1/3 against, 1/3 not sure about the roundabout design. The group wasn’t against a roundabout “per-se” but was concerned about some of the details.

Residents’ principal concern at this junction is pedestrian and cyclist safety – in particular it is difficult for pedestrians (particularly those with pushchairs or in wheelchairs) to cross over Ilford Road on the northern side of the junction.

The previous redesign of Ilford Road has led to poor visibility on Ilford Road on the northern side of the junction as traffic heading north waits for traffic heading south in the approximate location of the proposed roundabout. This should be tackled as part of any redesign of the junction.

Suggestions from the group

– Getting cars to slow down in all 4 directions is felt to be a good approach.

– Group would strongly support a raised platform at this junction (similar to the one at the junction of Moor Road South and the Grove). This could include a roundabout, but if it did then visibility and accessibility would need to be improved.

– Double yellow lines should be added around all 4 corners of the junction as cars currently park too close to the junction.

– A well located pedestrian crossing on the north side, going across Ilford Road, would be very beneficial for pedestrians and further slow traffic on Ilford Road.

– Dropped kerbs should be added at crossing points (except where there is a raised platform).

– Junction should be re-aligned east to west to improve safety.

2. Re-laid pavement and crossing points along Moorfield

Group was 100% in favour of this, subject to the width and location of the crossing points coinciding with existing points and the materials used being sympathetic to the area.

Suggestions from the group

Also renew pavement on north Moorfield between Treherne Road and Great North Road (using same materials as above) as it is in a similarly poor condition and a large puddle now appears where the old pavement meets the new pavement at the west end of Moorfield.

3. Narrowing of Moorfield

Residents strongly support reducing speeding traffic on Moorfield however they are strongly against doing this by narrowing the road.

The reasons for this were:

The visual amenity of a wide road is much appreciated by local residents and they would be very reluctant to see this changed.

Residents on Ilford Road feel that this road has become more dangerous since it was narrowed. There has been no noticeable decrease in speeding traffic, a notable increase in damage to cars (clipped wing mirrors etc) and overall the road feels more dangerous.

There was some concern that, particularly at night when there are less vehicles parked on Moorfield, it might look like a few cars have parked in the middle of the road and this could be disorientating and unsafe.

Concerns were also raised (via letter to the meeting) that Moorfield would become more dangerous to cross for pedestrians including many dog walkers who use the Little Moor.

Suggestions from the group

Residents were very much in favour of using an alternative approach to reduce the problem of speeding on Moorfield. A number of ideas were suggested and the following received strong support (in order of popularity).

– Introduce raised platforms at junctions of Moorfield and all or some of its side roads (Newlands Road, Kingswood Avenue, Albemarle Avenue, Treherne Road and Lodore Road). These would be similar to the junction of Moor Road South and the Grove

– Introduce nicely designed signage on the road or side of the road (maybe done by West Jesmond school) to make it clear that these are 20mph residential streets

– Introduce a “continuous pathway” along the northern side of Moorfield to reduce the speed at which cars enter and exit the side streets

– Introduce a pedestrian crossing on Ilford Road and possibly Moorfield

– Introduce an advisory “speed checker” sign halfway along Moorfield

4. Cycle Path along Moorfield

The group was split 2/3 “against” and 1/3 “unsure” about a cycle path. Nobody was in favour.

The reasons given for the opposition were:

Residents (including a number of cyclists) feel that cycling is already safe on Moorfield because of its width, and that there are other areas of Jesmond/Newcastle where the addition of a cycle path would be far more beneficial.

The cyclists in the group felt that they would be unlikely to use the cycle path as it was fairly narrow for two way cycle traffic and right next to parked cars. They would prefer to cycle on the wider roadway, particularly if speed of traffic is reduced.

Cyclists who live on the side streets off Moorfield also said that they would not want to have to cross the road between parked cars to get to a cycle lane on the south side of the road.

All felt that focus should be on reducing speed of traffic and improving the Ilford Road/Moorfield junction. Doing this would automatically improve safety for both cyclists and pedestrians.

Suggestions from the group

Remove the cycle lane from the proposal and focus on speed reduction and junction safety to enhance the cyclist and pedestrian experience.

5. Pavement widening at Moorfield/Treherne

The group was opposed to this as it was not felt to be a dangerous junction and there would be a net loss of parking space if the proposal went ahead.

That said, the group were concerned about the impact of dangerous and inconsiderate parking at all the junctions of Moorfield and its side streets (particularly where dropped kerbs are being blocked).

Suggestions from group.

Leave pavement at current width but introduce yellow lines on corners of Moorfield and its side streets to keep dropped kerbs fully accessible.

6. Removal of parking/redesign of junction at west end of Moorfield

The group was 100% in favour of this. Parked cars at this junction are making it dangerous for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

Suggestions from the group

Extend the proposed “no parking” area up to where Moorfield meets Lodore Road.

The group then discussed some of the other suggestions that have already been made on the S4P consultation website as follows:

7. Closing the junction of Moorfield and Great North Road

The group was split 38% in favour, 50% against and 12% don’t know on this proposal (Moorfield residents were split 50%/50%).

It was suggested that the impact of any changes at Blue House Roundabout would need to be factored in to any decision and that, during the construction phase of any project at BHR, a temporary closure might be appropriate.

8. Residents’ parking

Opinion was split 47% in favour, 41% against, 12% don’t know on this issue.

People on Ilford Road and Moorfield have been most directly impacted by the increase in “park and ride” that is clearly happening in the area and, as a consequence, are more likely to favour residents’ parking.

It was agreed that this issue should be looked at once the Streets for People (and possibly Blue House Roundabout) projects have been completed.

It was also suggested that Nexus should be encouraged to get the Regent Centre park and ride facility better used – possibly by bringing Regent Centre into Zone 1.

9. Ilford Road

Whilst the S4P project only directly impacts on Ilford Road at its junction with Moorfield, concern was expressed about this road and the continued high speed of traffic, damage to vehicles and difficulty at junctions – particularly at Lodore Road.

Residents were asked what their opinion would be on closing Ilford Road to through traffic by blocking the road at (for example) the point where Ilford Road becomes Rectory Road. T

he group was strongly opposed to this suggestion as they felt it would simply shift the problem of rat running elsewhere.

It was agreed that a submission on behalf of residents would be made by HWJRA to the S4P group.

Streets for People information

You can read more of the background to the Streets for People initative on our Streets for People page.

November 8, 2017

Residents’ meeting for Streets for People Moorfield & Ilford Road proposals

What changes would you make to Jesmond to encourage you to walk more, cycle more or let the kids play out?

That’s what Newcastle City Council asked residents in three areas of the city – Jesmond; Arthur’s Hill & Fenham; and Ouseburn & Heaton as part of the Council’s process for determining how to spend £3m of Cycle City Ambition Fund money in these areas.

Moorfield proposals

Included within the Jesmond proposals are plans for Moorfield & the junction with Ilford Road, High West Jesmond with a public consultation open until 30 November 2017.

Residents meeting – Monday 13 November

HWJRA (High West Jesmond Residents’ Association) would like to meet with local residents so that we can guage local opinion on the proposals and then submit a response on behalf of HWJRA.

Come along to the residents meeting which will take place in the main room at Jesmond Library, St George’s Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 2DL on Monday 13 November 2017 at 18:30 where you can find out more and let us know your views.

Cabinet lead talks about Streets for People

Hear Cllr Arlene Ainsley, Cabinet Member for Transport and Air Quality talk about Streets for People in a short video posted on to the Newcastle City Council Facebook page today.

More about Streets for People

You can find out more about Streets for People in our previous news article on this website.

October 16, 2017November 8, 2017

Streets for People: Proposal to change road layout at Moorfield/Ilford Road

The council have today opened consultation on a series of proposals to make changes to streets in the Jesmond and High West Jesmond area as part of the Streets for People initiative.

The proposals are aimed at improving provision for pedestrians and cyclists throughout the area.

One of the proposals involves redesigning the junction of Ilford Road and Moorfield as well as adding a cycle lane, relaying pathway and narrowing the main carriageway on Moorfield.

The outline plans can be viewed following the Moorfield Information Sheet link below and further detail can be found at the information stand in Jesmond library and also the Streets for People website streetsforpeople.org.uk/jesmond

Take part in the consultation process

The proposed changes would have a significant impact on Moorfield so HWJRA would strongly encourage all local residents – and particularly those who live on or close to Moorfield – to take a close look at the plans and to participate in the consultation programme that the council has opened up.

You can feed back your thoughts on the proposal anytime up until 30 November 2017 via the Streets for People website or by completing a questionnaire at Jesmond Library.

Meeting for HWJ residents

We plan to arrange a meeting for local residents so that the Residents Association can gauge local opinion on this proposal and submit our own response to the council which would be in addition to responses from individual residents.