“Council policies differ across the country & […] a national policy in place would give councils and residents "clarity & confidence" to close streets safely. "There's still a long way to go. Some councils have cost barriers or insist on insurance, & a lot of councils don't have a policy at all."”

Leeds: The city closing down streets so children can play

In Leeds, streets are being temporarily closed to traffic so kids have more space to safely play - an initiative proving beneficial to both children and adults.

bbc.co.uk

Not acceptable. This route, as with all routes around the city, is used by people everyday. To close it with no warning isn't good enough. People going east-west could use Heaton Park View though that is a lot busier since the LTN was removed. People using Heaton Road will have no safe alternative.

Mike Cookson 🔶 🇪🇺🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️@mikecookson.bsky.social · yesterday

Discovered a modal filter this evening. Full closure of the Strategic Cycle Route without so much as a warning. No diversion route.

Retweeting as this sounds lovely & of interest to anyone owning a Be-Ro baking book!

North East Bylines@northeastbylines.co.uk · 2d ago

"It's the first trail that celebrates the food culture and historic trading history of the river" | Peter Sagar

We're changing rail card rules so 18-year-olds can get half price train tickets. With £2 fares and kids going free on buses this summer, we're providing families with the little bit of breathing space that we know is needed. 🚆🚌🚏 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Half price rail travel extended to 18-year-olds

They'll be able to buy the 16-17 Saver railcard up until the day before they turn 18.

bbc.co.uk

The call to improve junctions is fair. But, Cllr Hunter also says: “I'm not interested in politics, I just want to see the A1 dualled.” Politics are important here as: - the economic case for is weak -extending scheme to Berwick even more expensive -dualling plan meant no safety work for a decade

ChronicleLive - The Chronicle@chroniclelive.co.uk · 2d ago

Councillors are calling for A1 junctions in Northumberland to be improved as a matter of urgency following another collision

✅ Anybody who cycles through Heaton will be pleased to see the cycle symbols highlighting the cycle route through the modal filter on Spencer Street have been repainted. ❌This one is a little further forward than previously as the untaxed car still blocking the filter is over the original marking.

The latest instalment of our sentencing series contains court outcomes that are at times as bizarre as they are harrowing. road.cc/news/july-20...

Number of freight trains lowest in more than two decades https://www.railbusinessuk.com/freight/2026/07/28/uk-records-lowest-number-of-freight-trains-in-over-two-decades/

Number of freight trains lowest in more than two decades

Office of Rail & Road figures show that total number of freight trains moving on the British network in the 12 months to the end of March 2026 was the lowest since at least 2003-04. There has been a constant decrease from more than 400 000 trains in 2003-04 to 186 131 in 2025-06. Year-on-year declines…

railbusinessuk.com

“By Sunday, about 3,000 volunteer hours had been logged and an estimated 285kg of nurdles had been recovered by the ‘people’s army’.”

‘There’s no nurdle fairy’: thousands mobilise to clean up plastic spillage in north-east England

Volunteers painstakingly gather plastic pellets washing up on beaches after ship collision on 19 July

theguardian.com

“Just dualling 13 miles of the road between Morpeth and Ellingham would cost more than £500 million, with the total cost of dualling the entire road to the Scottish Border likely to run into the billions.” Dualling is expensive; its economic case is weak; & it distracts from making the road safer.

ChronicleLive - The Chronicle@chroniclelive.co.uk · 4d ago

The North East Mayor will be able to keep a share of taxes collected in the area to spend on local priorities

As climate impacts intensify, campaigners are calling for a televised National Emergency Briefing to tell the public the truth about the crisis — and what must happen next | Robert G Davies

UK Government must come clean about the climate emergency

As climate impacts intensify, campaigners are calling for a televised National Emergency Briefing to tell the public the truth about the crisis — and what must happen next

bylines.cymru

The event takes place on Sunday August 9, and can be viewed at multiple points through the city

NOVUM Festival brings city-wide domino run to Newcastle's streets in August

NOVUM Festival brings city-wide domino run to Newcastle's streets in August

chroniclelive.co.uk

Another article on cutting the speed limit: “A nationwide reduction to a 20mph speed limit across England has been proposed by specialists in a bold move aimed at cutting road fatalities.”

@nottinghampost.co.uk · 5d ago

Experts are strongly pushing for the reduction in a bid to lower road deaths

“The Transport Select Committee invited road safety experts to […] explore whether England should follow Wales in reducing the […] speed limit from 30mph to 20mph” Shame about the headline - “MPs see serious & fatal collisions dropping in Wales & want the same for England” would be better.

"They want to make car use more difficult": Critics slam 20mph plan for England | Autocar

MPs accused of wanting to "make car use more difficult" over proposal for 20mph default limit

autocar.co.uk

Connor Aitchinson forced officers to abandon the dangerous pursuit three times after he flouted red lights, went the wrong way round roundabouts and drove on wrong side of the road near Newcastle Airport

Police forced to 'ram' mindless driver after he took them on 120mph chase

Police forced to 'ram' mindless driver after he took them on 120mph chase

chroniclelive.co.uk

Volunteer groups have been meeting just after high tide at several North East beaches since Monday in an attempt to rid them of tiny plastic pellets known as nurdles

Over 1,000 volunteers in 'race against tide' to clean nurdles from our beaches

Over 1,000 volunteers in 'race against tide' to clean nurdles from our beaches

chroniclelive.co.uk

Port of Tyne criticised over nurdle spill response #TyneAndWear

Port of Tyne criticised over River Tyne plastic nurdle spill response

Port of Tyne says it acted to tackle the spillage of nurdles once it was aware.

bbc.co.uk

“Northumberland Wildlife Trust said that the incident also highlighted the urgent need for stronger measures to prevent plastic pellet pollution”

ChronicleLive - The Chronicle@chroniclelive.co.uk · last wk.

Northumberland Wildlife Trust says that "swift and effective" action is necessary after the nurdle spill in the Tyne

Nurdle Collection / filtering points now assembled at Longsands, King Eddies & Fish Quay. Combination cable lock on the new X brooms town symbol of I Love North Shields would work well. Sadly brushes are essential beach kit for some time to come.

Oh, and still almost no *national* media and political coverage… The Tyneside coastal communities, who have been doing back-breaking work round the clock to clear as many nurdles as possible, won’t get answers and a proper clean-up till this spill gets more attention. Read through thread for more.

Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · 7d ago

Litany of failure here from Port of Tyne and companies involved in perhaps worst ever plastic pollution event in UK/Europe: No immediate containment of spillage No mention of spillage in press releases until day 4 *Still* no large-scale clear-up operation Nurdles found 20 miles N and S of Tyne

Interesting article on the Maths of traffic jams!

Bylines Network@bylinesnetwork.co.uk · last wk.

Want to spend less time in traffic? The maths is simple: Leave a safe gap, Brake and accelerate smoothly. Stop chasing the "faster" lane. Helping traffic flow beats trying to beat traffic. @eastangliabylines.co.uk

If you are interested in getting involved with volunteering for the clean up of our local beaches following the recent nurdle spill, this site has lots of information: nurdle-hub-ne.vercel.app/beach-cleanup

Tyne Nurdles disaster press release, please share. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

PRESS RELEASE: Local volunteers launch emergency nurdle cleanup

PRESS RELEASE A race against the tide: residents defy officials and launch cleanup of a billion ‘nurdles’ along North East beaches North East coast – 28 July 2026 Around 1,000 volunteers have begun...

docs.google.com

Coun Tom Bailey says that the clean-up in Tynemouth is 'on the curve it needs to be' but worries that beaches south of the river are lagging behind

Tynemouth councillor 'worried for neighbours' after nurdle disaster

Tynemouth councillor 'worried for neighbours' after nurdle disaster

chroniclelive.co.uk

Matt a Cllr from Littlehaven coming over to borrow some of our Brooms & some mesh for filter bags. Chatted about residents experience mobilising 4 nurdle hunt. nurdle-hub-ne.vercel.app/beach-cleanup Happy to talk to any other Cllr in our region regardless of party & share our #tynemouth experience

Local authority teams and volunteers have been trying to clear the pellets from nearby beaches, amid serious concerns about the long-term environmental impact of the disaster | Daniel Holland

Nurdle spill response too slow

Local authority teams and volunteers have been trying to clear the pellets from nearby beaches, amid serious concerns about the long-term environmental impact of the disaster

northeastbylines.co.uk

Cleaning the nurdles on North Shields Fish Quay

Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · last wk.

An hour on the Fish Quay, working with my hands and a dustpan and brush. No idea how many nurdles this is. There are about 60 people working down here, all doing similar.

Cllr Sanderson: “The council has now confirmed it will spend more than £20,000 to gather evidence and data to support the case for dualling.” Dualling has a weak economic case & even if it did happen would take years. Average speed cameras, speed limits & junction improvements would help now.

ChronicleLive - The Chronicle@chroniclelive.co.uk · last wk.

An 80-year-old man died following a horror crash involving a car and a lorry near Belford

Plastic pellets spilled into River Tyne after two ships collide “The collision caused up to 25 tonnes of nurdles – about a billion in total, according to environmental charity Fidra – to enter the water, said South Tyneside council” northeastbylines.co.uk/news/environ...

Plastic pellets spilled into River Tyne after two ships collide

“The collision caused up to 25 tonnes of nurdles – about a billion in total, according to environmental charity Fidra – to enter the water, said South Tyneside council”

northeastbylines.co.uk

I haven’t made it down this morning but there are dozens of folk on Tynemouth Longsands, clearing some of the billion nurdles bit by bit. Still time to pop down this morning, or between 4 and 8 this afternoon/evening after the next high tide. All info here: nurdle-hub-ne.vercel.app/announcements

Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · last wk.

The plan is for a big volunteer nurdle effort tomorrow and Tuesday, after both high tides. So from 6 in the morning to start on Tynemouth Longsands. Details/info/context in the pic (attached twice with half of alt text in each). WhatsApp for organising here: chat.whatsapp.com/KXTZ6zO69si0...