Bus shake-up will cut off estate, opponents fear

Two years' ago plans to cut another part of the Q3 route were axed

Residents of a Newcastle housing estate fear a shake-up of bus services will leave them cut off.

From September the area of Great Park west of the A1 will no longer be served by the Q3, run by Go North East.

Alternative routes are set to be put on by Stagecoach, but there are fears these will be insufficient and the switch risks severing key public transport connections for some residents.

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

An hourly X49 will run between Great Park and the city centre but has no scheduled evening or Sunday services and will only go as far as Regent Centre at mid-afternoon on weekdays.

'Whole thing stinks'

Jamie Robinson, chair of the Great Park Neighbourhood Association (GPNA), told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he had received more than 250 complaints.

He claimed a previous rerouting of the Q3 through Jesmond resulted in it becoming less popular with Great Park residents.

He said: "If what they are saying is that the route is not commercially viable after Covid, you have to ask why they changed the route to go through Jesmond and made it less viable.

"The whole thing stinks. It is just not right."

Daniel Laird, head of commercial at Go North East said: "We are revamping the Q3 route to minimise disruption for customers as best we can."

Stagecoach said 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 between Great Park and Regent Centre at key times".

The Newcastle Great Park Transport Advisory Board, which includes representation from Newcastle City Council, Nexus, and the Newcastle Great Park Consortium, said it "understood concerns raised by the local community".

A spokesperson added: "We... would like to assure residents that they will still be connected to the local area and amenities via the new bus routes."

An event about the bus changes is now planned at the Great Park Community Centre on 13 August from 16:00 BST.