Calls for bus service to housing estate to stay

More than 600 people have signed a petition opposing proposed changes to the Q3 service run by Go North East

More than 600 people have signed a petition opposing proposed changes to a bus route which, some residents claim, will leave a housing estate without a regular bus service.

From 1 September, Go North East's Q3 service will no longer serve most of Newcastle Great Park.

New Stagecoach services will run to the estate instead, but those opposing the changes say the proposed 49 bus will be far less frequent and have no late evening or Sunday service.

Transport bosses insisted communities would not be cut off following any changes.

Great Park resident Margaret Collins, 77, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she worried about losing access to GP surgeries, restaurants, and other vital amenities in Gosforth.

"I moved here eight years ago and there was a bus into town every 15 minutes, all the way down to the Quayside," she said.

"You didn't need to know the timetable, you just set off."

Transport bosses have insisted communities will not be cut off following any changes

Extra morning and evening services on the new 49 have been added to its proposed timetable in response to concerns, but Jutinder Kaur, who has a pharmacy at Newcastle Great Park, is still worried about how his staff will get to work.

"If we have a reduced workforce then when we come into cold and flu season we will get really pressured," he said.

"Ultimately it will be the vulnerable and the elderly who are massively affected by this."

A spokesperson for the Newcastle Great Park Transport Advisory Board said: "We have listened and responded to the needs of residents and as a result, they will soon be able to access two new bus services between Newcastle Great Park and Newcastle City Centre."

Stagecoach said previously that the changes would result in "quicker journeys for customers travelling from Great Park to Newcastle City Centre, while also retaining capacity for important scholars links".