Car miles

'Horse power ' as we used to know it

To anyone familiar with the unfolding nightmare of Haddrick's Mill, news that creating new 'villages' is leading to increased car dependency will not come as a surprise. The bricking over the Newcastle Green Belt Mania that never seems to end was undertaken either without thinking of the impact of the drive to maximise private profits (house builders (sic) giants bottom line), or maybe they did and it didn't matter. Anyone could predict this would have a huge impact on traffic into and out of the city. So, Newcastle chopped down a huge number of trees (Maples are still trees), and began a vast publicly funded road scheme to ease thousands more car journeys produced by new housing into and out of ... South Gosforth. Where they go afterwards is a conundrum for bigger brains than mine. Matthew Bank replaced by a flyover? Osborne Road junction widened? The new Blue House Motorway Interchange?

Meanwhile large sites cleared of former industry remain across the city and exciting new developments in the east and west show how areas can be transformed. But obviously, getting a glimpse of distant greenery from your upstairs two point five metre square 'master bedroom style' broom cupboard is worth paying thousands more for. Nipping out tot he shops though ...

Reality strikes. Link to B.B.C. article (off site) here. The Campaign for Rural England (CPRE) are also chiming in here (Off site link). But methinks it is too little too late.

Local exercising

No album, just a few images. It's been about two months since I walked around the Lower Ouseburn 'Valley' as it's now termed.

I hope when this emergency is finally over, we can re-build our communities and local businesses.

Best Wishes.

Spring Cannot Wait

Distancing

My daily exercise , this time with a camera. It was easy to maintain 'social distancing' since there were so few people about.

Wildlife it seems from online reports and gossip, is finding the lack of people, disturbance, pollution and sunshine to its liking.

An update on the unstoppable progress of Nature here. (Off site link)

Gateshead Excursion

A good article on Gateshead (and elsewhere on South Tyneside) by the best reason to read The Journal, Tony Henderson. Link (Off site)

Personally speaking, I can't find much sympathy in Priestley's bluntness; he seems unable to separate the people from the social conditions that others, notably George Orwell, an Old Etonian no less, described without demeaning those whose lives and opportunities were constricted by them.

Recently I and another fan of social renewal and life long Gateshead resident spoke at length to a member of the Gateshead Council's Planning Department about plans for the sorry looking Gateshead High Street. In brief, plans to regenerate the centre of Gateshead are imaginative and over due. As soon as the Corona Virus pandemic is history, I shall be posting more on this chance to rescue something from the road building mania of the Sixties that has left such a problematic legacy.

'Plans to transform a key site near Gateshead town centre through a £90 million development plan have been unveiled by Gateshead Council.'

Full report here (off site link)

Lupercal suspended?

Spring cannot ever be delayed. Now indoors for a while I took these before sensible instructions to keep ourselves and others safe were requested.

Here are the signs –

 Fly Tipping!