North Tyneside’s Elected Mayor and her Cabinet have set out their bold ambitions for each part of the borough.
The vision, which was presented to Cabinet last night (26 November), reveals how the council hopes to help shape North Tyneside and make sure it is fit for the future.
It builds on the Mayor’s and Cabinet’s promises to the borough for the next four years through the ‘Our North Tyneside Plan’, which aims to make sure everyone is ready for school, work and life, cared for, healthy and safeguarded, and that the area is a great place to live, work and visit.
The ‘Ambition for North Tyneside’ also follows the Local Plan, which was agreed in July 2017 and sets out the spatial strategy of the borough over the next 15 years, and looks forward over the same timescale, matching ambition to the plan for the place.
Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn CBE said: “North Tyneside has always been about ambition.
“This plan spells out our ambition for the next 15 years and what we will try and achieve with our partners and for our communities.
“As a council we are ambitious, we do care and we listen. Working alongside my Cabinet and officers we have looked closely at what residents and businesses in each part of the borough need.
“We have also considered how these ambitions fit alongside our commitments as part of the ‘Our North Tyneside Plan’.
“It is important that we demonstrate that we care and have listened and this plan is a major step in outlining how we will work with our partners to achieve exactly that.”
The ‘Ambition for North Tyneside’ plan looks at all four parts of the borough – the South West, the North West, the North East and the South East.
It considers what each area needs, what the council is trying to achieve with those communities, what has been delivered over the last 15 years, what is being done now, what will happen next and what will be done if and when it is possible.
Some of the major proposals, which are all subject to timing and funding, include:
- The continued development of Killingworth Lake to create a leisure facility for the community
- An agreed long-term plan for Segedunum
- Developing a Master Plan for North Shields - proposals include better links from the town centre to the Fish Quay; improved housing and attracting more people to live in the centre; improving the built environment; and infrastructure and licensing policies for the Fish Quay to support it as a food and drink destination, which would include exploring the feasibility of moving the ferry landing and connecting the Shields Ferry to Royal Quays
- Further work to build on the success of the major regeneration of the coast, including the refurbishment of the Northern Promenade in Whitley Bay extended to the area around the Rendezvous Café
- Seeking funding from the Environment Agency to carry out improvements to the sea wall at the Southern Promenade
The plan also outlines ways to improve transport links and connectivity from town centres to other parts, redevelop unused buildings, create more and better jobs and develop sustainable communities, meet housing needs, continue to attract visitors and investment and close the gap in life chances by tackling working poverty.
This is on top of various schemes already completed or currently underway such as flood prevention work, building new housing – including affordable – and schools, and improvements to the transport network.
Master plans for Killingworth and Murton will also be delivered as part of the Local Plan, which have been carefully crafted to consider the needs of people around providing the right kind of infrastructure and promoting a richer living environment.
At its meeting, Cabinet agreed the overall plan as well the engagement proposals and its priority projects for investment and external funding.