MINI HOLLAND
Notice of the above Motion was given in accordance with Council
Procedure Rule 13.
Councillor Matt Davis will
move;
|
Councillor
John Moss will second
|
This Council notes the Conservative Mayor of London is giving the
Council around £30 million of funding for the “Mini Holland” cycling
improvements.
The Council also notes that the plans that have come forward so far
will:
1. Clearly
disadvantage all road users, including bus passengers, other than the small
minority of residents who are cyclists, whom a study by Camden NHS and TfL has
proven are almost entirely middle class, young, white men.
2. Will increase
the amount of time it takes a bus to travel along Lea Bridge Road by almost 40
minutes.
3. Will worsen
emissions and air quality, which may be why there appears to be no individual
climate change impact assessment of each scheme.
4. Are likely to
lead to an increase in road traffic accidents as it did in Islington when speed
limits were reduced to a blanket 20MPH borough wide.
5. Are generating
considerable resident and local business opposition which has been
made notably worse by an extremely poor consultation process which only allowed
residents consulted to vote yes or no for an entire scheme rather than being
able to support individual elements of it, or contribute proposals or ideas
borne of experience.
Council also notes with incredulity that despite receiving £30 million
pounds Cllr Loakes is now attempting to misappropriate £20K into his budget
from the L&Q section 106 agreement which was earmarked for the absolutely
essential health service improvements caused by the redevelopment of
Walthamstow Dog Track.
In addition Council notes and queries the accident based evidence record
on which the 20MPH schemes are based since in at least one case it is a fact
that physical traffic calming is to be imposed upon roads without there being
the evidence to support them in clear contravention of the Council’s own
policies and previous practice.
The Council therefore calls upon the portfolio holder and his officers
to:
1. Listen to the
views of all borough residents and not just the tiny minority that make up the
local cycling campaign.
2. Only propose
or institute speed limit reduction schemes for which there is demonstrable
accident based evidence for their need.
3. Conduct a
proper equalities impact assessment in order to ensure that those groups
especially likely to be disadvantaged, for example Muslim women, have their
needs consulted upon and not just those of the overwhelmingly white,
middle class, male cyclists.
4. Conduct
proper Climate Change Impact assessments for each individual scheme proposed in
order that Waltham Forest Council does not make air quality worse in pursuit of
Councillor Loakes’ personal agenda.
5. To ensure
that mini Holland is of benefit to, and mostly supported by, the whole of the
Borough and not just a very small, but disproportionately noisy, self-selecting
portion of it.
Latest from Stella Creasy MP
Hello!
I'm writing to update you as someone who has been in touch with me regarding the Mini Holland scheme in Walthamstow. Due to the large volume of correspondence I have received about this project it is not possible for me to reply to you all individually and so I hope you will forgive this mass update system. Please note though that since the scheme was first introduced, where residents are raising requests for information and feedback on this scheme with my office we have shared these points directly with the officers responsible for the scheme so that they can correspond with residents on these points.
I understand that tomorrow evening, Thursday 22nd October, Waltham Forest Council will be debating the scheme. Ahead of this, I wanted to let you know that I have yet to receive a response to my letter to the Chief Executive of Waltham Forest Council and the Lead Councillor responsible for the scheme on this matter of the 23rd September 2015. I have however today written directly to all the Walthamstow Councillors to share this correspondence so that they are aware of the points raised with me by Walthamstow residents ahead of their debate.
Furthermore, I have also informed them that two petitions - one for and one against the scheme- have been set up on the Change.org website with me as the recipient. As of 2pm this afternoon, the 'pro' petition had 1,363 signatories and the 'anti' had 3572. I have alerted all those who have signed these petitions that I would share this information with the councillors again ahead of their debate on this matter.
Please note, that as this is a scheme that is directly managed by the Council and the GLA, and not by parliament, these petitions have no formal status in the Council decision making mechanisms and I have no direct authority to influence the nature of this project as the MP for Walthamstow. However, I continue to seek to ensure all residents voices are heard on this issue as the project progresses and as soon as I receive any further information from the Council including a response to my queries on behalf of residents I will share this with you. If you have not yet seen this correspondence please do let my office know and I will share a copy of this correspondence with you.
I hope the above information is of interest and kind regards,
Stella
I'm writing to update you as someone who has been in touch with me regarding the Mini Holland scheme in Walthamstow. Due to the large volume of correspondence I have received about this project it is not possible for me to reply to you all individually and so I hope you will forgive this mass update system. Please note though that since the scheme was first introduced, where residents are raising requests for information and feedback on this scheme with my office we have shared these points directly with the officers responsible for the scheme so that they can correspond with residents on these points.
I understand that tomorrow evening, Thursday 22nd October, Waltham Forest Council will be debating the scheme. Ahead of this, I wanted to let you know that I have yet to receive a response to my letter to the Chief Executive of Waltham Forest Council and the Lead Councillor responsible for the scheme on this matter of the 23rd September 2015. I have however today written directly to all the Walthamstow Councillors to share this correspondence so that they are aware of the points raised with me by Walthamstow residents ahead of their debate.
Furthermore, I have also informed them that two petitions - one for and one against the scheme- have been set up on the Change.org website with me as the recipient. As of 2pm this afternoon, the 'pro' petition had 1,363 signatories and the 'anti' had 3572. I have alerted all those who have signed these petitions that I would share this information with the councillors again ahead of their debate on this matter.
Please note, that as this is a scheme that is directly managed by the Council and the GLA, and not by parliament, these petitions have no formal status in the Council decision making mechanisms and I have no direct authority to influence the nature of this project as the MP for Walthamstow. However, I continue to seek to ensure all residents voices are heard on this issue as the project progresses and as soon as I receive any further information from the Council including a response to my queries on behalf of residents I will share this with you. If you have not yet seen this correspondence please do let my office know and I will share a copy of this correspondence with you.
I hope the above information is of interest and kind regards,
Stella
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