Mini Holland Update

From Stella Creasy MP

Hello!

Thank you for contacting me about the ‘mini-holland’ trial road closure project in Walthamstow village- some of you have sent me detailed feedback about your views of the project , some have copied me into your correspondence with the council on this issue and others have also filled in the survey I produced about your views of the scheme. As the response to this issue has been so substantial I apologise that it has taken me longer than I had hoped to collate all of this, reply and acknowledge your contribution!

This is an update to all residents who have been in touch - several hundred of you- with my office so I apologise if it repeats some information you may have individually had from me on this subject and for the impersonal nature of this email. Its purpose is to share with you all the detail I have had from the Council on this project to date and some of the questions you have raised with me. I will also keep using this system to update residents as and when I get further updates on the next stages of this project so that I can update you as quickly as possible.

Therefore to recap please see below details taken from responses I have had from Cllr Clyde Loakes who is overseeing this project on various points. These include the history of the trial location, the consultation process undertaken, the timescale for Mini Holland as a whole and the Council’s interaction with the Emergency Services on this scheme. I have also been in touch with the Council to ask for details as to when the next public meetings and feedback sessions on this project will be (I also understand some are being organised within roads that were in the area where the trial took place) as well as for details of any other road closures proposed as part of this project and their engagement with Transport for London and the emergency services.

Following your responses, I have now shared all the results of the survey regarding residents feedback on Mini Holland sent to me and your ideas for how to amend the scheme with the Councillors as part of their consultation process. Furthermore, I have also been informed that the Council Neighbourhood Scrutiny Committee is now investigating this project. As many of your comments referred to the consultation process for this project I have also shared your comments with this committee for their consideration.

I stress again that as this project is being run by the Council rather than parliament, it is for the Council to decide the next steps and final outcome of this project rather than myself. However, as your MP I will continue to seek to ensure residents are actively involved in shaping this project and given as much information as possible about the schemes for changes to roads as they progress.

Please also be aware some of those completing the survey did not give contact details – so I would be grateful for your assistance in ensuring any neighbours, family or friends in Walthamstow interested in this project have access to this information. Please do also feel free to suggest residents of Walthamstow email me directly to be added to my update list with their contact details.

With kind regards

Stella


Text of Emails from Cllr Clyde Loakes regarding Mini Holland


The History of Mini Holland trial in Walthamstow Village

Prior to our successful mini-Holland bid, we had identified the Pembroke Road area for a neighbourhood improvement scheme. In February this year we undertook a pre-scheme survey to understand the main concerns of local residents and businesses. From this survey two key issues were raised; ‘rat running’ traffic and speeding on residential roads.


Now that we have secured the mini-Holland funding, we have used this opportunity to take the scheme one step further and produce a new approach to not only resolve those two key issues, but also to give residents, businesses and other interested parties the chance to radically improve their surroundings and the environment in which they live.


The live trial from 26 September to 13 October is enabling us to collect valuable background data to see whether our proposals and assumptions can deliver the range of outcomes set out by our earlier consultation. We appreciate that it is causing disruption for residents and value their patience while we test the trial in a live environment to see what works and what doesn’t. The added inconvenience of the burst water main on Hoe Street obviously hasn’t helped but we are stressing that the trial is temporary and is a really valuable exercise.
Please find attached an information leaflet detailing the trial scheme, which was distributed to 4,200 local households before the scheme started. We’re now aware that some residents did not feel informed prior to the start of the trial so will be closely monitoring the distribution of any further materials to ensure that surrounding properties are properly engaged, and will be sending update leaflets over the next two weekends.

The Consultation Process


To date we have spoken to 900 people – 400 of whom before the trial started - and we have also already received over 350 emails about the scheme. As you know, the trial has created a local debate and while some residents are undoubtedly opposed to the scheme, there are a significant number championing it. What we want to do over the coming week is encourage people to consider the whole effect on their neighbourhood.

During the trial we will be collecting data which will be evaluated against the information we collected before the trial to see what difference, if any, the temporary traffic management interventions have made on individual streets. We know that at this point in the trial, we have seen a 40 per cent reduction in traffic in the trial area, with some 3,000 fewer vehicles on the roads as a whole. As well as this technical evidence we are looking to collect residents’ views, opinions and ideas and are urging people to send their feedback to a designated mini-Holland e-mail address:miniholland@walthamforest.gov.uk

The findings from this trial will not only help inform the final scheme for this area, which will be put out to public consultation before anything is implemented, but also other schemes across Waltham Forest over the coming years.


The Timescale for this project

Stage 1: Data collection
Before the trial started we placed traffic counting equipment at locations and on roads we know are the main ‘rat run’ routes through the area from Lea Bridge Road and Hoe Street. We have also been recording traffic volumes on the roads surrounding the trial area, including St Mary Road and Church Lane.


Stage 2: Pilot (in progress)
The pilot project was introduced on 26 September, which includes temporary road closures. The trial aims to show local residents, businesses and other interested stakeholders how the village could exist if rat running traffic was removed and the road space reallocated to alternative uses, for example general traffic and parking. During the pilot we will be gathering feedback received from door knocking, the email address as outlined above and an online consulation at the end of the trial period. At the mid-way point in the trial, we will issue an update to local properties followed by an update once the trial is over, which will outline the next steps.


Stage 3: Further feedback and development of final proposals for public consultation
After the trial period is over, we will run a series of workshops with the local community (including resident groups, businesses, schools and all other interested parties) to provide them with the data we have collected and to get further feedback on the trial. These workshops will cover which elements worked, which did not work, which elements we should retain, amend or remove and which other changes the community would like to see on their street following their experiences of the trial. These sessions will help us develop specific proposals also based on feedback and the data collected by the traffic surveys.


Stage 4 Public consultation and statutory consultation
In November we will start public engagement activities with consultation documents available, drop in sessions and focus groups. This will be followed by a statutory consultation.


Stage 5 Implementation
At this stage we anticipate that a staged implementation of the scheme developed in consultation with the community, will start from January 2015.


Stage 6 Review
We will undertake a review at least six months after the final scheme has been implemented to make any necessary design tweaks. This should allow enough time for any teething issues to have been ironed out post-implementation.


On the Emergency Services and Mini Holland


As with all traffic schemes we do consult with the emergency services as a matter of course both informally and formally through the statutory traffic management order process, which is required in order to implement any traffic restriction, such as a road closure.

Prior to the first letter being sent to residents at the beginning of September we did provide the emergency services with the information about the trial road closures and to give them the opportunity to comment. Following this we updated them on the closures on the 3rd September (including providing them with the letter sent to the residents) and updated again on the 19thSeptember.


Comments we have received back from the emergency services have not been directly related to the project but around some existing issues in the area.  From the ambulance service this is the update of street name plates to include house numbers so they know which end of the road they are at, and from the fire brigade the amount of parked vehicles in Maynard Road and Barclay Road leading to the road being too narrow for the fire engine. We are meeting with the fire service after the trial to discuss these issues.


We do understand the serious nature of providing the emergency services with the correct up-to-date information and also that this information is correctly passed around within their respective organisations. Therefore to this end, we are speaking to them about nominating a Mini Holland Champion within their organisations that we can pass all our information too and they will ensure the correct local stations/teams/squads are aware of works we are doing through this mini Holland project.