13 March 2019 Improvements to cycleways and bus routes are set to appear across the North East thanks to £10 million of funding announced during the Chancellor’s Spring Statement (13th March). Over half of the funding will provide improvements for cyclists, with new route connections in Newcastle and Sunderland, as well as increased connectivity to […]
29 April 2019 Tolls paid by drivers using the Tyne Tunnels are to increase at midnight on Sunday, 12 May. The new tolls will apply to motorists using the tunnels from Monday, 13 May and will increase by 10p for cars and 20p for heavy goods vehicles. The North East Joint Transport Committee, which owns […]
8 February 2019 The North East has been successful in a £500,000 bid to install rapid electric charge points for taxis and private hire vehicles across the region. The funding through the Government’s OLEV (Office for Low Emission Vehicles) Taxi Fund will pay for new rapid charging points for 19 vehicles at 10 locations. The […]
14 January 2019 Business and political leaders have issued a call for urgent investment in the East Coast Main Line, without which high speed rail (HS2) risks harming the North East rather than benefiting it. The concerns have been raised in a joint letter to new HS2 Chairman Allan Cook from the Local Enterprise Partnership […]

With Jamie Driscoll and Ben Houchen now installed as elected mayors across the North and South of the region, Steven Hugill looks at the North East Combined Authority’s position in the region’s political environment Standing at a lectern, moments after the final ballot papers were counted, Jamie Driscoll made his inaugural speech as North of […]

A POWERFUL partnership that will lead the economic development of four of the North East’s seven local authority areas has met. Leaders from the newly constituted North East Combined Authority (NECA), made up of Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland, have come together for the first time since the former NECA disbanded to allow Newcastle, […]

A statement issued on behalf of the leaders of Durham County, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland City Councils; Councillors Simon Henig, Martin Gannon, Iain Malcolm and Graeme Miller, said: “The North East has an abundance of assets and vast economic potential and the four North East Combined Authority councils – Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and […]

Ambitious North East Combined Authority (NECA) plans to help transform the region’s transport network and boost its economy have taken a step forward. NECA is one of 10 authorities shortlisted for a share of the Government’s £840m Transforming Cities Fund, which if successful it hopes to use to tackle congestion hotspots and improve transport connections […]

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership and the North East Combined Authority have jointly investigated the opportunity presented by 5G technology for the North East region, and are highly regarded by industry and Government to be a key place to promote the advancement of 5G technology. Unfortunately for our region, the recent DCMS funding for […]