Newcastle City Council's use of pathfinder may have come to a juddering halt due to objections by the highways agency. The proposal to build 2,100 homes in the west end of the city by the Lib-Dem led council would lead to massive increases in traffic say the Highways Agency.
Councillor Greg Stone has cried foul claiming that "The Highways Agency is failing to deliver joined up government". Councillor Stone was supported by Labour MP David Clelland who said "This is unnecessary bureaucracy and a waste of public money".
However despite the claim that this is a failure of joined up government the fact that housing re-development is being looked at from the point of view of whether the transport infrastructure can support more housing is joined up government. It would be hardly fair to new residents if they found that the local area had poor transport and they had problems getting to shops, schools and the workplace.
Far greater waste of public money comes when consultants paid by local councils fail to do a proper environmental and transport audit. Something residents of Saltwell and Bensham have pointed out in Gateshead's pathfinder programme where the largest public transport provider in Gateshead wasn't even asked about their views on the demolition of 440 homes in close proximity to popular bus routes.
Pathfinder encourages councils to provide brownfield sites to millionaire property developers with little consideration of building communities or sustainable transport links.
Link:
The Journal
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