Triangle of councillors, engineers / officers, and community champions made #wfminiholland possible 
Car traffic will do what it wants to do. Orford Road was a place where car drivers thought it was their God given right to bully people on foot, in wheelchairs, in buggies.
Our consultations showed huge support for Orford Rd scheme. Lo and behold the opening day was met with hate and bile.
But the silent majority was hugely in favour. Still it was tough. The heat was on and there was political nervousness as we headed for elections.
So we really worked with our community champions to put the message across in ways we as a council alone couldn’t.
Orford Rd is transformed. It’s a destination for leisure visitors from across London. It is buzzing.
Need to reach out to progressive businesses to get started.
Huge decline in vehicle movements through our villages.
Francis Rd was a business street that was dying. Traders are now looking after the street and making the most of it. Nobody heard of Francis Rd before the scheme.
Some of the Mini Holland money went on segregated cycle tracks. Why shouldn’t we prioritise healthy and active travel? Why shouldn’t they have a bigger claim on space?
Disconnect between what traders say they need and the way people actually spend money. Now, we are seeing traders understand the higher spend associated with higher liveability.
We’re making new places, green spaces, as part of highways schemes. Lots of awards for pocket parks, play space, kids and people using the public realm. All because we took out cars.
This was pre-XR. We simply dealt with traffic that used our Borough as a rat run. Just avoiding traffic light infrastructure for their own convenience.
We’ve handed 2K square metres back to Epping Forest for the first time in the Borough’s history.
Summary of achievements
380 cycle hangers. We only put them on the street and they take the place of car parking. People have every right to safe secure cycle parking.
We have to consult on these. But nobody was consulted on cars’ “squatters rights” to the kerbside. We cant put in enough of these hangers — 480 and thousands of people on the waiting list.
We should see 25% decline in PM2.5 between 2013 and 2020. This isn’t even a public health scheme! And it’s a small amount of money for the big results.
Yet so many people want more car parking , even as they lecture others on the need for active lifestyle.
We invest in people learning to cycle, all walks and all ages. We have powerful advocates. Unique and localised interventions. Cycling Sisters work with Muslim women and they have powerful stories to tell. You should invite them to Oxford.
Standing room only.
The right thing to do. All the evidence is on your side. If we’re really serious about these objectives— health, well-being, carbon...
We’re civilising streets and who wouldn’t want that.
Q: how does it work for ppl who can’t cycle?
A: It helps them. It gives roadspace back to them, by taking out thousands of car journeys by ppl who would rather cycle or walk.
A: It helps them. It gives roadspace back to them, by taking out thousands of car journeys by ppl who would rather cycle or walk.
The Highway Code says you have a right to the space. But we’ve deferred to the car for too long.
If I’d believed all the social media and the doorstep opinions I’d have been done. But I stuck with it and my majority increased in the elections.
