Tyneside Irish Centre has voiced concerns over plans to predestrianise Newcastle's Blackett Street, saying the impact on elderly members would be devastating.
Tony Corcoran, secretary of the centre on Gallowgate Street, has objected to the plans which would remove buses from the busy main street.
Newcastle Council says its plan to remove traffic from Blackett Street is part of a £50m vision to make the city safer, cleaner and greener.
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But 80-year-old Mr Corcoran believes that it risks isolating elderly people with mobility problems or dementia who rely on the Blackett Street bus service to bring them closer to the Irish centre.
"We have a lot of elderly members," he said.
"We run clubs for elderly people who come from as far away as Sunderland and many of them come on the Metro into town.
"They get off at Monument and then get a bus to the centre.
"It is only two stops, but otherwise it is 400 yards to walk and so it's quite inconvenient for them.
"If they take the bus off Blackett Street and move it 200 yards away from the Monument Metro is going to make life very difficult for them."
Mr Corcoran, who has been involved with the Tyneside Irish Centre since 1985, said the plans also risk isolating many members who travel to the centre to enjoy activities including a weekly tea dance and "elders club".
The centre has 2,200 members and around 40% of people are over the age of 65.
"They are making the city more and more inaccessible for older people by saying that everybody has to walk," he continued.
"We have a lady who comes to our club who is 98 years old. Are [Newcastle City Council] saying that she has to walk or get a taxi when she is a pensioner?
"I expect this kind of thing to go on but I am disappointed.
"It is bad if we lose the accessibility. It is a threat to their social life, which is important to people as they get older.
"A lot of them are lonely people and many have been widowed.
"Members are very concerned.
"But we have got to the stage with the city council where we think there's nothing we can do about it."
The plans have also been criticised by bus operators and some councillors in the outer west of Newcastle.
Stagecoach, the main bus operator on the street, has said it lost 120,000 passengers when Blackett Street was temporarily closed off during the 2019 Christmas markets.
However, Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes has claimed that a new bus loop around the city centre would actually put most passengers closer to their destination.
The council invited the public to have their say on the plans and said it is now reviewing the responses it received from the consultation.
A Newcastle City Council spokeswoman said: “All views and feedback from the consultation have been received and a review of this information is under way.
"A report on the outcome of the consultation along with recommendations for next steps will be considered by the council’s Cabinet in due course.”
