Thread by @AndyHull79

People Friendly Streets are coming to Highbury West. The yellow line below is part of the reason. Plans, timelines & info now published here: bit.ly/3kGGVQM. Just had a discussion with 65 local people about it on Zoom. Feedback welcome here: survs.com/survey/458fgrs… #LTNs

Lots of related info in this recent thread and replies:

https://twitter.com/AndyHull79/status/1320023717603364876?s=20

A further troubling graph here, highlighting one of the many reasons why the time for People Friendly Streets here in Islington has come:

Our borough has the lowest level of car ownership in the country (bar The City). The vast majority of Islington households don't have access to a car. The better off people are, the more likely they are to have a car. Islington is the 53rd most deprived of 317 areas nationally.

25% of London’s morning peak traffic is attributed to the school run. In our ward, of the three local schools, the one with the widest catchment area had a cut-off distance last year of less than 450 metres.

Disabled Londoners say they sometimes cycle about as much as non-disabled Londoners, but they are significantly less likely to have access to a car. The most common mode of transport used at least once a week by disabled Londoners is walking (81%), with bus the second (58%).

Physical inactivity is responsible for 1 in 6 deaths in the UK - the same number as smoking. Walking or cycling for 20 minutes every day has a big impact, reducing someone's physical and mental health risks and increasing their healthy life span.

57% of people across the country support this kind of Low Traffic Neighbourhood, compared to 16% against. A year after Waltham Forest Council introduced similar #LTNs, fewer than 2% of local people said they'd go back to the previous road layout.

A leaflet detailing Highbury West's People Friendly Streets scheme will go out to every household in the ward next week. After 12 months, we'll write to every household again to consult formally on the scheme. Six months after that, we'll either keep it, amend it, or scrap it.

There's no denying there are trade-offs involved in making radical change. This scheme will compromise convenience for a significant minority of mostly better-off residents. But the council believes that the upsides, in terms of health, safety and the environment, are worth it.

This is a genuine experiment.

From May, there was public engagement: …npeoplefriendlystreets.commonplace.is/comments

Now, there is a feedback survey: survs.com/survey/458fgrs…

In 12 months, there will be formal consultation.

Plus, this is politics, so:
In 18 months, there will be local elections.

The other two schools in the ward, incredibly - due to a combination of educational excellence and population density - each had a cut-off distance last year of LESS THAN 85 METRES. Some kids travel further, of course, for one reason or another, but the catchment areas are TINY.