So in basic terms without the waffle:

• 352 binned - Cramlington to Killingworth - Dropped from 2 BPH to 1 BPH as a result
  
• 355 extended to Whitley Bay via Killingworth and the 359 route additionally serving Monkseaton numbered as 356
  
• 342 Kingston Park to Wallsend only, new shorts from Benton Rise to Wallsend
  
• 41/41A renumbered to 340/341
  
• Rest timetable changes
  

Not really positive, and not really negative either.

The 353 is potentially in trouble though imo as people from Cramlington to North Shields might aswell use the 19 and the 37/X8 is more frequent at the Northern end for local journeys.

I'm still surprised Arriva never kept the 53(353) as it used to be a popular service, they clearly had enough space at Ashington to run it and could've easily been the route to Morpeth instead of the 43 since they've upped the PVR by 7 since the depot closure anyway.