Newcastle AGM, 25 March 2018 - Launch of the city4kids manifesto

1. City4kids Manifesto

4. Newcastle Fit for Cycling Bid Document available at
https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-transport/cycling/newcastle-fit-cycling-
cycle-city-ambition-fund-bid
Let’s see what Susie’s journey is like in 2018…

5. Sadly, in 2018 Susie is still not cycling to school
or to work or to the shops. She is disappointed
at the lack of progress at her children’s school.
Rat running traffic hasn’t been reduced.
Susie’s local shopping street has seen some
improvements for pedestrians but she’s still
not confident about cycling here or allowing
her son to cycle to school this way. He will
soon be going to secondary school. There is no
bus to take him and it is too far to walk. Susie
is resigned to taking him in the car.

6. Susie isn’t cycling to work either. Her route to
the office where she works still doesn’t have
cycle lanes.
There is one short section of cycle route in
the city centre which means that at
weekends she can go shopping on
Northumberland Street. She enjoys this but
doesn’t do it very often because it is still
easier to drive and park.
Susie feels bad about this because she
knows that air pollution is very high in the
city centre and notices her son’s asthma
gets worse when they visit.
Susie doesn’t understand why all of the
plans she’s been sent by the council haven’t
come to fruition. They haven’t given any
explanation for this.

7. EMBARGO 25 March 2018 - LAUNCH AT AGM
1 Newcastle bikelife report, and general segmentation studies for example Anable
cit y4kids
So that children and parents can travel in safety and comfort
Newcastle Council policy highlights the problem of young families leaving the city.
To stop this flight, we must see decisive action. How can we, together, create a city
that parents and children choose to live, grow up and thrive in? Currently our roads
are polluting, fast and hostile. Newcastle’s transport system must diversify and offer
alternatives to the private car. For kids to travel independently we must build
cycleways and design neighbourhoods to live and play. This is what people want1
.
Many have told us that cycling with children feels dangerous and often attracts
harassment. This situation must be changed. People who are trying to do the right
thing should be rewarded.
We ask officials to take action. It is the Council that holds the power to transform
our built environment. We want our Councillors to
1) form a city4kids design & implementation group, to ensure rigour in process,
through Health / Equality Impact Assessments, a scrutiny/select committee and
reviewing the highway appraisal procedure
2) appoint an urban design expert to instruct and oversee implementation, and
guide and advise the council on matters of community and collaboration
3) seek support from, and work actively with, civic society groups
4) make sure council engineers and planners deliver child-friendly designs
We do this for our kids, for Newcastle’s bright future.
So that children and parents can travel in safety and comfort
Newcastle Council policy highlights the problem of young
families leaving the city. To stop this flight, we must see
decisive action. How can we, together, create a city that
parents and children choose to live, grow up and thrive in?
Currently our roads are polluting, fast and hostile.
Newcastle’s transport system must diversify and offer
alternatives to the private car. For kids to travel
independently we must build cycleways and design
neighbourhoods to live and play in. This is what people want.
Many have told us that cycling with children feels dangerous
and often attracts harassment. This situation must be
changed. People who are trying to do the right thing should
be rewarded.

8. We ask officials to take action. It is the council that holds
the power to transform our built environment. We want our
councillors to:
1) form a city4kids design and implementation group to
ensure rigour in process through Health/Equality Impact
Assessments, a scrutiny/select committee and reviewing the
highway appraisal procedure
2) appoint an urban design expert to instruct and oversee
implementation, and guide and advise the council on
matters of community and collaboration
3) seek support from and work actively with civic society
groups
4) Make sure council engineers and planners deliver child-
friendly designs
We do this for our kids, for Newcastle’s bright future
EMBARGO 25 March 2018 - LAUNCH AT AGM
1 Newcastle bikelife report, and general segmentation studies for example Anable
cit y4kids
So that children and parents can travel in safety and comfort
Newcastle Council policy highlights the problem of young families leaving the city.
To stop this flight, we must see decisive action. How can we, together, create a city
that parents and children choose to live, grow up and thrive in? Currently our roads
are polluting, fast and hostile. Newcastle’s transport system must diversify and offer
alternatives to the private car. For kids to travel independently we must build
cycleways and design neighbourhoods to live and play. This is what people want1
.
Many have told us that cycling with children feels dangerous and often attracts
harassment. This situation must be changed. People who are trying to do the right
thing should be rewarded.
We ask officials to take action. It is the Council that holds the power to transform
our built environment. We want our Councillors to
1) form a city4kids design & implementation group, to ensure rigour in process,
through Health / Equality Impact Assessments, a scrutiny/select committee and
reviewing the highway appraisal procedure
2) appoint an urban design expert to instruct and oversee implementation, and
guide and advise the council on matters of community and collaboration
3) seek support from, and work actively with, civic society groups
4) make sure council engineers and planners deliver child-friendly designs
We do this for our kids, for Newcastle’s bright future.