Mini Hollandising Walthamstow Village

Mini Hollandising Walthamstow Village

With minimum publicity hundreds of people gathered in the Asian Centre (15/9/14)  to hear from the council about their plans for “mini Hollandising” Walthamstow Village - the key feature being the closure of Orford Road where the shops are. Cllr Loakes tried to speak but was howled down – he reminded me of Alex Salmond – you must vote for this as it is of great benefit to you! One thing this council has never learnt is that if it wants to bring the people with them they need to engage with them at a much earlier stage – why were we not invited to input to the bid before it was written?

Apparently the council will put in trial closures to ensure they have the detail correct. One advantage of that, unlike Scottish Independence, is we can return to the status quo if it does not work!

The issue I have with the whole of the Mini Holland concept is you cannot provide for one small part of the community – in this case cyclists. Closing roads does not make the traffic disappear, but it improves the environment for one lot of residents while another group have to take the pain.

The plan is to improve the environment for residents from Lea Bridge Road to Church Hill. To achieve this through traffic has to be excluded from the Village. I am not that familiar with all the roads and traffic routes under consideration so I can’t comment as to whether making Grosvenor Rise two way instead of one way will be a benefit for those residents, for example, or the closure of the junction of Maynard Road and Beulah Road . What I can comment on is my journey everyday through the Village to get to Queens Road which is an excellent rat run to Markhouse Road and my school.

Both Forest Road and Lea Bridge Road are heavily congested through routes so it makes sense for local traffic to rat run through the back streets. I either cycle or use my car depending on weather conditions and more importantly whether I have a heavy load to transport. If the current plan is implemented I can cycle past Vestry House Museum and turn right into Orford Road and continue on to Queens Road. If I go by car I cannot turn right in to Orford Road and as the bridges on West Road and East Road will be closed and I can’t escape except by going down Wingfield Road which is not the direction I need to go!

Returning in the evening I come to the junction of Queens Road and Hoe Street and will find I cannot go across to Orford Road as it will be closed at the Social Club junction. Normally I would go along West Avenue but the bridge is also closed. I am stuck so clearly that is not a valid route. Do I fare any better as a cyclist – up to a point. I can cycle past the shops in Orford Road and go past the Nags Head but as now I cannot legally turn right to get to Church Lane I am no better off!

At busy times such as Saturday mornings shoppers coming back by cab from the Town Centre avoid the congestion on Hoe Street by going along Orford Road. This will no longer be an option so the cabs will add to the congestion in Hoe Street – so it is the Village Residents saying stuff the Hoe Street Residents!

This is no way to manage growth of people movements. Yes perhaps more people should use public transport, but most of it is bursting at the seams. I could use the 230 bus nearly door to door but it takes getting on for an hour in the rush hour whereas I can do my journey on foot in 30 minutes and by bike in 10. The car often takes 15 to 20 minutes as the roads are blocked by dust carts and delivery vans. At least on a bike I can mount the pavement to avoid the obstructions.

The most important item that seems to be ignored with these plans is how the dust carts will access the area and the numerous delivery services to say nothing of plumbers, electricians and builders! How will the residents of the Village cope if their shops cannot be serviced?

Leave well alone and use the Mini Holland money to repair the pavements of the residential streets which have not been refurbished for over 50 years!

As with Scottish independence some people will have a say and others don’t but we will all be affected by the impact that Mini Holland will have on our streets.

P.S. They also plan to wreck the Whipps Cross roundabout by converting it to a normal traffic light controlled junction. This must be stopped as it is a very attractive street scene and most importantly is a buffer between the urban area and the forest. There is no difficulty for cyclists to cross over Woodford New Road so ruining Whipps Cross roundabout is not only a waste of our money but will destroy a precious piece of open land.