It seems obvious really. If you live near a train station then it’s easier for you to travel around the country. You are better connected.
“Glaringly obvious” says the think tank Centre for Cities which is urging the Government to prioritise building homes near railway (and Metro) stations to, erm, fast-track growth.
But speed is of the essence and that means speeding up planning reforms and transferring disused Network Rail land to mayoral authorities.
Talking of speed, there’s more on nurdles this week, which is only to be expected considering the scale of this environmental issue. I’ve been looking back at Eyes & Ears coverage over the past six weeks and it seems as if me and the clean-up volunteers are waiting for everybody else to catch up.
Worrying scenes - and hopefully not the start of a trend - in Northumberland where a vigil and balloon release in memory of a teenager who died in a road accident resulted in a vehicle being set on fire, fireworks thrown at police and electric motorbikes seized.
Environment Agency officers are using their detective skills to try and track down the people behind the illegal dumping of commercial waste near Newcastle Airport. The list of suspects may be pretty narrow.
Plus, there’s a follow up to Monday’s story about the Meta AI glasses and an article on how the climate crisis is exposing just how fragile our food system is. And the ad break has one of the brilliant Creature Comforts ads from the 90s for Heat Electric.
Brian Aitken
Editor
Action stations
Building lots more houses near railway stations is one of the most effective ways to boost the economies of cities such as Newcastle, a report from the Centre for Cities think tank said this week.
“In a low growth economy like Britain, it is one of the most glaringly obvious problems to fix,” said Anthony Breach, director of policy and research. “Going big on homes around stations will make a significant dent in the housing shortage. It makes public transport far more efficient and cuts commuting times. It expands the labour market which is good for productivity. It regenerates areas that residents have seen fall into disrepair.
“But the Government must also be clear eyed that without speedy planning reforms and rail devolution, good intentions will get stuck in the swamp of delay, red tape and inter-agency bureaucracy.”
The report comes a fortnight after housing secretary Angela Rayner unveiled new planning rules which mean that councils will have to default to a “yes” position on housing development applications within reasonable walking distance of stations.
Centre for Cities said that the Government’s push to build more around stations will “move far too slowly without urgent reform of land ownership and planning rules”. It has called for the speedy transfer of vacant land around stations from Network Rail to mayoral authorities.
The report said that if Newcastle was able to increase its housing density levels to rates seen in similar sized cities in France and Japan, it would result in 53,000 more homes being built – plus 19,000 more around Metro stations.
Metro extension
The North East will have three new stations to build around in the coming years after Nexus this week revealed plans for the first new Metro line for 30 years. This involves new stations at Follingsby, Washington North and Washington South.
The £900m scheme to add a line through Washington was unveiled in June 2025 and it is hoped trains will start running along it in 2033. The plans involve some road changes and using the 188-year-old Victoria Viaduct to cross the Wear. Nexus is holding 14 public events across the region this month so residents can learn more about the plans and give feedback before the scheme is finalised.
Call for change
Port of Tyne chief executive Matt Beeton has added his voice to calls for the way nurdles are transported around the world. This comes more than six weeks after two vessels collided at the port and resulted in millions of plastic pellets being disgorged into the river in just five seconds.
It’s been called an environmental disaster with nurdles being washed up on beaches as far apart as Blyth and Scarborough. But the plastic pellets are classified as non-toxic despite the threat they pose to birds and fish who eat, but can’t digest, the tiny balls.
Beeton has suggested a change to the categorisation of nurdles because the non-toxic classification meant the port was not made aware that a ship was carrying the nurdles or that they had been spilled until the day after the crash. He also suggested nurdles could be stored better in containers.
This is a reference to the use of ‘single bags’ being used for packaging. I reported four weeks ago on an article published by Norwegian-based Gard, one of the world’s largest marine P&I (Protection and Indemnity) insurers, who said in 2023: “The use of single bags should be avoided. ‘Single bags’ refers to using a single plastic liner within the container. When the steel container is pierced, so is the plastic liner resulting in spill of nurdles even when the container itself remains on board.”
Quite.
BG Orange was the berthed container ship which was sliced open in the accident. It is owned by BG Freight Line (part of the Peel Ports Group). I’ve still not seen any media organisation ask them questions on their storage policies or even heard a word from them since the environmental disaster. Meanwhile, hundreds of volunteers continue to take part in the great nurdle clear up along our coastline.
Alternative route Pt 2
Andy Burnham repeated his intention to look for alternative ways of funding the dualling of the A1 when he spoke in Parliament for the first time as Prime Minister. He fielded many questions including one from North Northumberland MP David Smith who said: “This afternoon, I and 12 other MPs, the mayor and – in the spirit of cross-party working – the local Conservative leader wrote to him to ask what more we can do to work with him and his Government to secure this generational change for infrastructure in the North East.”
“I will ask the Transport Secretary to work with colleagues at No 10 North to see what can be done to bring forward a new way of delivering this much-needed infrastructure. I know how critical it is.”
£2m ‘not enough’
Cleveland Police is being given an extra £2 million to tackle serious and organised crime. This follows the arrests of 27 people since the deaths of two police officers and five young men who crashed into them when their car was driven the wrong way on the A66 dual carriageway.
Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey told the Teesside Lead he wouldn’t turn the money down but the additional funds “won’t touch the sides”. He said: “The issue is structural. The [funding] formula has to change ASAP to reflect poverty and crime rates.”
Early finish for funeral
Four Middlesbrough schools will close early today amid safety concerns over a funeral of one of the young men who died in the A66 crash on August 22. Head teachers warned parents large crowds were expected to gather in the South Bank area for the funeral, with traffic disruption likely. The decision to close the schools was taken following discussions between the heads and Redcar and Cleveland Council.
More vigil trouble
A vehicle was set on fire and fireworks thrown at police in disorder linked to a vigil for a teenager who died in a crash in Cramlington. Northumbria Police said the “unacceptable behaviour” happened at a planned balloon release in memory of a 16-year-old boy whose death was not connected to seven people killed in a crash on the A66 in Middlesbrough last month.
Four electric motorbikes were seized. Supt Michelle Robson said people coming together for memorials should do so safely, respectfully and within the law. “Where such events are used as an opportunity to carry out offences, we are committed to taking action against those responsible.”
Environmental detectives
Environment Agency officers are sifting through an estimated 400 tonnes of commercial waste which has been dumped at Callerton Hill, near Newcastle Airport, in an effort to find the culprits.
The agency’s Mark Rumble said the items almost certainly came from a waste processing facility. “A lot of the good recyclables have been removed,” he said. “And what’s left here is processed, shredded and ready for landfill disposal. We’re conducting a search through the waste to look for leads as to where it has come from.”
Fly-tipping sites have also been discovered at Hartlepool and Peterlee this summer. Hexham MP Joe Morris said the priority “needs to be going after those who are responsible for organised crime”.
A quick word
Durham MP Mary Kelly Foy has written to Health Secretary Yvette Cooper calling for government support for an extension of the University Hospital of North Durham. “Residents are alarmed by reports that, despite an approved business case, the planned A&E extension was never formally funded and can no longer proceed,” she wrote. A fresh application to turn the 19th Century Tritlington Hall and stables into holiday let accommodation has been approved by Northumberland planners. A group of nurses are seeking £400,000 in legal costs from the trust that runs Darlington Memorial Hospital. Employment judges previously ruled that the trust had “violated the dignity” of the nurses, who are being supported by an organisation called Christian Concern, by allowing a colleague - a biological male who identified as a woman - to use the single-sex changing area. A three-person tribunal panel said this week that they would make a decision on costs at a future date. A “one of a kind” guitar decorated with more than 100 pieces of mother of pearl, resin and mirror plate is being raffled by Andrew and Jess Mills, owners of Curvy Sounds in Heaton, to raise money for the conservation groups trying to buy the Rothbury Estate. Security is being increased at Monkseaton High School after a series of online videos showed masked youths inside the building which is now only used by community groups following the recent closure of the school. Food and drink festival Chester-le-EATS will celebrate its fifth birthday on September 26-27 with organisers Durham Cricket promising more traders, new experiences and the introduction of food and drink Masterclasses. Reality TV star and radio presenter Vicky Pattison is to run, cycle and kayak the 250 miles between her home city Newcastle and Heart’s London HQ for Global’s Make Some Noise charity. Her five-day challenge begins on October 5.
30-year celebration
Thirty years ago this month British basketball was transformed forever when Newcastle Comets were rebranded as Newcastle Eagles - the start of a journey that would establish the franchise as the most successful in the sport’s history.
If Sir John Hall’s Sporting Club dream was short-lived then his decision to add basketball to a roster including football, rugby union and ice hockey laid the foundation for two decades of unprecedented success.
When current MD Paul Blake and the late, great Ken Nottage purchased the Eagles from Sir John for a nominal fee in 1999 there was no hint of what might follow. But by the time Fabulous Flournoy took over as player-coach in 2002 fans were given their first glimpse of a storied future.
Last night’s 30th anniversary dinner, staged at the Eagles’ Vertu Arena home, brought together players and coaches past and present to celebrate a winning streak that saw Flournoy land 24 major titles in 12 years.
Newcastle have now won 28 major honours and Blake said: “It’s been an incredible journey and ours is a story that’s far from finished. Our aim is to continue to build on a fantastic legacy and bring more silverware home to the North East.”
Staiths fundraiser
It is thought to be the largest wooden structure in Europe and has been popular with visitors since closing in 1980 - but Dunston Staiths is in need of repair so it can remain open to the public.
A Just Giving page has been opened to raise £3,000 to pay for the first stage of works to repair rotten timber at the base of what is the last remaining staith on the Tyne where coal used to be loaded directly onto ships. A £4m funding bid has been submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to fully restore the structure which dates from 1893.
Business bites
Chief executive Mark Mullen is to step down from his position at Newcastle-based Atom Bank just months after a failed sale of the business, according to a Sky News report. Britain’s first digital-only bank later said that “ongoing discussions between the CEO and board about succession planning” have accelerated as part of “prudent long term planning for Atom’s next stage of growth and development”. Former TV Dragon Sara Davies, the founder of Crafter’s Companion, has taken a “meaningful stake” in online retail site Not On The High Street. County Durham-based Pragmatic Semiconductor, which makes microchips that are thinner than a human hair, has launched a new Chinese brand which it has been exhibiting at the International Internet of Things Exhibition (IOTE) in the country’s southern city of Shenzhen. Sunderland-based Avant Homes has submitted plans to Newcastle City Council to demolish the former Sage headquarters at Great Park and build a 320-home development called Skyline Quarter. Stockton Council says it will make a “substantial final offer within the coming days” to purchase Billingham town centre. A planning application has been submitted for the proposed science, technology, engineering and mathematics facility at Darlington’s Science Park which will be operated by Darlington College. Gateshead IT company Aspire Technology Solutions has its sights on being a £100m turnover company by 2030. Latest results show revenue up from £35.1m to £50.8m and an increase in operating profit from £6.9m to £10.7m.
1990 ad break
It’s September already and we’ll soon be thinking about when it’s time to switch the heating on. In the early 1990s there were a series of ads for the Heat Electric campaign that used Creature Comforts, the stop‑motion plasticine animals created by Nick Park of Wallace & Gromit fame.
The starting point was unscripted interviews given by members of the public. The humour comes entirely from the brilliant animation, as you will see from this one where a young lad has just had a “spontaneous” electric shower.
THE WIDER VIEW
Fragile food system
Across Europe, farmers are seeing yields shrink as drought and extreme heat put crops and water supplies under pressure. The climate crisis is exposing just how fragile the food system we have built has become.
“The Covid-19 pandemic should have been a warning,” says Lucy Antal in openDemocracy. “It exposed vulnerabilities in a food system dependent on complex, highly interconnected supply chains and a workforce vulnerable to borders, illness and labour shortages.
“The government is aware of this threat. Its most recent Food Security Report acknowledges that our ‘just in time’ food system – with its minimal stock levels and reliance on uninterrupted transport – is extremely vulnerable.
“Just in time is efficient, until it isn’t.”
Seeing the light
Monday’s edition (It’s grim up North*) carried the story about Community Protection Warnings being issued by Newcastle City Council against two so-called ‘content creators’ who have been accused of using Meta’s smart glasses to exploit homeless and vulnerable people in videos filmed without their consent. One critic described the practice as “poverty porn”.
The AI glasses allow people to capture photos and videos, listen to music, take phone calls and ask questions to an artificial intelligence assistant. But some people are using them to record people without their knowledge and publish the videos on social media.
The only clue that a recording is taking place is a small light at the top of the frame. Meta has now disabled the recording abilities for thousands of its glasses after rolling out an update that can detect whether the LED light has been covered or destroyed.
Nicholas
Mental health crisis
There has been a big increase in the number children - some as young as six - being brought to A&E in a mental health crisis, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
The number of six to 17-year-olds turning up in significant distress for things like self-harm and eating disorders, or in emotional crisis, rose by 36% between 2019 and 2025. Some faced waits of more than 12 hours once there. The college said A&Es were not the best place for them, but a lack of support in the community meant they often had nowhere else to turn.
The Government said it was looking to improve services and is due to publish its mental health strategy later this year.
Soft is hard
Another one from the letters pages of The Times. This time a response from Charles Helliwell about the lack of soft skills and youth unemployment:
“I have spent more than 30 years as a business coach and mentor, and loathe the term ‘soft skills’. There’s nothing soft in teaching young people the simple art of communicating with each other, behaving in a civilised and decent manner and improving the performance and productivity of many public and private organisations as a result. Most people take for granted that it’s easy and we can all do it without help and support. But that’s not the case. It’s a minefield laid within a maze.