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A legion of protesters armed with placards and megaphones marched on the Town Moor on Sunday to rally against a controversial roundabout plan.

In a show of force almost 2,000 residents turned out to demonstrate against Newcastle City Council’s proposals to redevelop the problem junction known as the ‘Blue House roundabout’ by carving up a chunk of the Town Moor.

As the consultation over the development closed objectors gathered on Dukes Moore to send a strong message to city planners that the roundabout upgrade was not wanted.

Battling a faulty megaphone Liberal Democrat councillor Nick Cott told the amassed crowd that the proposal was an “outrage”.

He said: “The local community has had its say and I am hoping that this demonstration and all the thousands of pieces of correspondence that have been received will be noted by the council and they will decide not to progress with this ludicrous plan.”

Fellow Lib Dem councillor Greg Stone said: “Lots of people in Jesmond and Gosforth areas are very concerned about the council’s plans to build a major motorway style junction on this land. We underestimated how many people would turn up, it is great to see so many people making their voice heard.

“We know this is a key junction that needs looking at, but the way the council has gone about this has gone down very badly with residents. I think that given the pressure from all sorts of people they will have to go back to the drawing board.”

Resident Helen Averley, who was at the rally dressed as a “moody cow” with her husband who was dressed as an “unhappy bunny”, said: “We are fed up that someone has just got their spirograph out and drawn a great big motorway sized roundabout on what is our green lung, most of us don’t have gardens around here and this is a valuable asset that we should be protecting for the future.

“I think the council cannot ignore this, I have never seen this many people come out and protest like this.”

Nick Moore, of the West Jesmond Residents’ Association, added: “We are delighted to see such a cross section of people come out and show support for this campaign.

“The council have no option but to scrap this plan, they need a complete rethink.”

Newcastle City Council’s controversial plan aims to address the problems of one of the busiest road hotspots in a £20m upgrade at the South Gosforth and Great North Road junctions.

It involves building a new roundabout, with more lanes, 50m north of the current Blue House one and a new junction on Town Moor land with cycle lane, bus lane and pedestrian crossings improvements. A larger roundabout with similar measures is proposed for Haddricks Mill.

Councillor Ged Bell, the council’s cabinet member for investment and development, reiterated that the plan was still only at the draft stage.

He said: “We’ve been very clear from the outset that the plans we are consulting on for Blue House roundabout are drafts that we’re seeking feedback on, and that these designs were a starting point.”

He added: “The only certainty here is that something needs to be done.

“To do nothing or to scrap plans that will make significant improvements is simply not an option.

“What we will do, though - as we have said all along - is to use feedback to re-shape proposals and then formally consult on these. We encourage those who haven’t done so yet to have their say.”