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Metro plans 'cut off my link from home to work'

Jim ScottIn Sunderland
News imageBBC/Jim Scott Louise King, who is wearing a navy blue short-sleeve V-neck top, is standing in the reception of her beauty salon. In the background is a room with large glass windows, partially frosted, and a door. Two white ring lights, similar to those used for lighting someone in a video, are visible in the back room. On the right of the door is a pink wall with a hoop that holds faux plants on the bottom half.BBC/Jim Scott
Louise King says one proposal puts a railway line between her home and business on the same stretch of road

A business owner whose shop and home are on the same stretch of road fears the two could be permanently separated and only accessible by a major diversion if a new railway line cuts through the area.

Louise King, who works in South Hylton, Sunderland, said the planned Tyne and Wear Metro extension to Washington was a "nightmare" which threatened to cut the village in two.

Metro operator Nexus has suggested closing Hylton Bank to allow the new line to continue from the existing station terminus, with plans to either re-route traffic via a new road and tunnel, or via Claxheugh Road.

It said the final plan had not been decided and it would "continue to look at alternatives".

King, who has run Lu Lu Brows and Beauty for four years, said both proposals were unsuitable but the suggestion to divert traffic would cause lengthy delays for residents and customers.

News imageBBC/Jim Scott A poster which reads: "Protect our community - say no to the Metro". It is in the window of a shop. The poster shows the proposed extension of the railway line across Hylton Bank along with text saying it would cut the village in half. The poster is in a glass window with a pink door to its right.BBC/Jim Scott
Posters against the changes have been appearing in shop windows

The businesswoman, who lives on Hylton Bank, a continuation of Railway Terrace, said: "For my customers, it will put a lot of people off coming into the village.

"They're absolutely devastated, its going to cut the village in two."

"I live half way up the bank so, if I want to come to my shop, I will have to go around the whole outskirts to get to the village."

News imageBBC/Jim Scott Alan Averre is wearing a grey Umbro jumper with a red and white collared shirt underneath. He is standing on the road just in front of South Hylton Metro station. There are houses on the left, with a grey parked car and a large tree in the background, while there is a terrace of homes with no driveways on the right hand side.BBC/Jim Scott
Alan Averre says he will be separated from his daughter under the plans

Alan Averre, who has lived in the village for over 50 years, said his daughter lives on the south side of the proposed line while he lives on the north.

He explained: "I would have to go up the bank, Hylton Road, St Luke's Road, down the new roads and come back in to go back along to my daughter, and in reverse do the same.

"I'm all for the favour is moving on but the people of the village have been ignored."

Another resident, Hannah Foster, said she was "not really sure how it's going to work" and any diversion would make it a "nightmare getting out".

News imageBBC/Jim Scott Tom Hardwick from Nexus is wearing a white shirt with a grey/blue blazer. He is wearing a Nexus branded lanyard around his neck, which is yellow, green, blue and red in colour and feature the words Nexus and logo. He is standing in front of a large poster which shows the entire Metro extension and the locations of each railway station and the route it will take. In the background is a man and a woman who are looking at the plans, which have been put up on posters around the room.BBC/Jim Scott
Nexus said more than 800 people have attended drop-in sessions this month

Nexus has been running drop-in sessions across Wearside to show people the alternative proposals.

At one event in Washington, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness told the BBC the project "would go ahead", but she said it would not happen "without people being able to have a say in the plans".

She said changes had already been made to previous proposals and there would be "continued conversations with those communities who will both benefit and be affected by the new Metro".

Tom Hardwick, head of system development at Nexus, added: "I would stress they are proposals at the minute, they are there to be considered by the residents."

He pledged Nexus would "work with them as close as possible to ensure we deliver a solution that works best for the village".

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