Living Streets

£85,000 (2008/2011) towards the salary of a North East Coordinator

Living Streets is the national agency concerned with improving streets and public spaces for people on foot. The North East project is intended to influence policy and achieve change, particularly by promoting the use of public space to tackle deprivation and social exclusion. The staff support local branches in development of local action. Contributions have been made on issues such as access, planning and walkability. Following a wide consultation, a North East Charter has been produced. Special emphasis is being given to tackling parking on pavements, improving mobility and opportunities for exercise for older people, and building the capacity of local groups. The project has also been funded by Northern Rock Foundation and Newcastle City Council. In November 2009 MHF’s Trustees agreed to support Living Streets’ North East campaign for a further two years (2010-2011).

Policy impacts and outcomes

• Living Streets’ partnership with Newcastle City Council, which embedded people-friendly design into the planning process of the regeneration cycle, was recognized nationally by Living Streets being shortlisted for the Local Government Chronicle Innovation Award and the Sustainable Communities Sustainable Transport Award.
• Following a consultation on major road networks, the NE Coordinator, a member of the NE Combined Transport Activists’ Round Table (NECTAR), was invited to give evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport.
• As a partner in the Economy, Culture and Environment Regional Advisory Group of Public Health North East (PHNE), Living Streets influenced PHNE’s strategy on transport and urban design-related solutions to public health (as outlined in the research report and recommendations 'Improving Health through Transport Solutions').
• Living Streets contributed to the ‘Designing a Sustainable Transport System’ consultations, which highlighted the need to prioritise people over traffic and ensure that walking, cycling and the use of public transport are key elements in any forward planning of sustainable transport systems.
• An oversubscribed mini-conference involving the public, private and voluntary and community sectors highlighted the impact of traffic on social capital.
• Living Streets delivered walkability training events for officers of Gateshead Council and members of Hexham Community Partnership.
• The NE Coordinator is an invited member of the Access to Tyne & Wear Study Board and the Regional Homes and Communities Agency Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Forum and has been appointed to chair the Tyne & Wear VCS Transport Forum.
• Living Streets contributed to discussions relating to the new Local Transport Plans in Northumberland and Tyne & Wear and Supplementary Planning Documents on Sustainability in County Durham.
• Living Streets is a partner in the steering group for implementation of recommendations in the report ‘Improving Public Health through Transport Solutions’.
• Living Streets has secured funding from the Department of Health for a regional coordinator to support the roll-out of the Walk Once a Week (WoW) campaign, which will reach 300 primary schools in the region. Middlesbrough, Northumberland, Stockton, Darlington and Newcastle were identified as local authorities prioritizing childhood obesity within their Local Area Agreements and Sustainable Community Strategies. Living Streets has undertaken work to address childhood obesity in the context of the Walk to School campaign and has emphasized the need to address walking as a solution in its responses to local authority consultations and to Physical Activity/North East Active Travel (NEAT).
• In 2009 the NE Coordinator gave evidence to the Parliamentary major road network enquiry, the final recommendations from which were released in March 2010. Living Streets’ 20mph and pavement parking campaigns continue to be promoted locally. Living Streets contributed to the national Active Travel Strategy launched in February 2010.
• Living Streets exhibited at the TUC/Public Health North East conference ‘Good Work is Good for You’, reaching and influencing a large number of delegates. It promoted Walking Works at a Health Inequalities seminar and at the Newcastle Health summit.
• The strengths of partnerships resulting from Living Streets’ work in the region was highlighted when over 12% of those pledging support for the national Living Streets Manifesto were found to have an NE postcode.
• Living Streets has been exploring opportunities arising from the introduction of GP commissioning and local authorities taking on responsibilities for public health, and from the development of Local Economic Partnerships.
• Living Streets secured a grant from the Department of Health for the roll-out of the Walk to Work campaign in target areas. The NE Coordinator presented a paper to the International Walk21 conference Getting Communities Back on their Feet. Interest in drawing on the North East’s experience was expressed by a Churchill Fellow from Australia.
• The North East Active Travel Initiative is continuing beyond its first year, with active engagement from Living Streets in training activities for health and transport professionals.
• As well as contributing to Local Transport Plans throughout the region and the Tyne & Wear Transport Strategy, the NE Coordinator led Living Streets online Forum discussions. She played a key part in the development of the Tyne & Wear Passenger Focus Group. Living Streets was included in a proposal by the Tyne &Wear Integrated Transport Authority to the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund.
• Living Streets has continued to participate in partnerships and forums in the region including the Economy, Culture and Environmental Regional Action Group, which oversees the work of the Public Health North East Active Travel Steering Group, and the Tyne & Wear Third Sector Focus Group on Transport. It was a partner in a successful bid by all the local authorities in Tyne & Wear to the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund for a three and a half year project to involve primary and secondary schools across Tyne & Wear in Walk to School initiatives.
• Largely because of the changed economic situation, Living Streets was unable to obtain funds to match MHF’s further support for 2010 and 2011. MHF agreed to advance payment of the final instalments of its grant to enable the post of North East Coordinator to continue until January 2011, when the post-holder was made redundant. Living Streets is committed to maintaining a strong presence in the region. It has been successful in raising funds for specific projects and hopes to be able to resume a broader campaigning role.

© The Millfield House Foundation 2010. Registered Charity No. 271180.