| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Give us back our roads Ruth Cadbury | |
| Posted by: | Bernard Allen | |
| Date/Time: | 30/09/20 10:05:00 |
| From article on the from page of ChiswickW4.com website A group of prominent Chiswick residents including eight Doctors, has written to Grant Shapps in support of his announcement putting walking and cycling ‘at the heart’ of transport policy. They allege that the vision of the Minister is being undermined by members of his own party in the local area. The letter was drafted as a response to an appeal sent by local Conservative councillors urging the Secretary of State for Transport to pause and review a number of traffic measures currently being implemented in the W4 area. In their letter, the councillors claimed that borough transport policy was destroying the town centre retail economy and the local sense of community. As a counter to the arguments put forward by the ward representatives, the group supporting Hounslow Council’s measures state, “A number of us have been in the front line of public health efforts against the pandemic and welcomed the statement you made on May 9 announcing a £2 billion package to support active travel to help the country emerge from the coronavirus crisis. Given the predicted upsurge in traffic and the virus, the reallocation of road space in favour of walking and cycling is even more necessary now.” They claim that opposition by local councillors to pop-up bike lanes, wider pavements, cycle and bus-only streets and modal filters to create low traffic neighbourhoods is in direct opposition to government policy and that Hounslow Council has implemented schemes exactly in line with government guidelines. They say, “We are therefore disappointed that some of our local councillors have failed to back your vision, opposing the measures from our council that are making it a reality.” They also accuse councillors of misrepresenting the situation in Chiswick when they claim that the problem with rat-running in Chiswick is limited to certain times and say that traffic counts show that residential streets are blighted by rat-running throughout the day. They point out that the letter that a reference to the “revival of the discredited Cycleway-9 ” concerns a scheme that was initiated by the Boris Johnson while he was Mayor of London. The notion that retail businesses are under threat from the new measures is also disputed and it is claimed that the shift to shopping locally has triggered a local boom with shops that were long empty finally being let. The first ever Flower Market on Chiswick High Road is said to have triggered the highest sales for years for shopkeepers in the area. Speaking for all the councillors when their letter was sent, Sam Hearn, the Conservative Councillors Transport Spokesperson said, “There is unanimity across Hounslow Council and amongst Chiswick residents that we want to end the scourge of rat-running, curb excessive speeds and discourage unnecessary car journeys. These are laudable objectives but the complex and draconian measures being imposed under the guise of the Covid-19 emergency are having many perverse effects. Many of the changes are sadly making the lives of residents worse, not better”. The signatories to the letter in support of borough transport policies are: Dr Edward Seaton, DM FRCP, Consultant Dermatologist, London Professor Jeremy Levy, Professor of Medicine, Imperial College London Dr Mark Esler FRCA, Consultant Anaesthestist, Imperial College NHS Trust Kate Frayling, Physics Teacher, Local School Dr David Game PhD FRCP, Consultant Renal Physician, London Andrew Hurn, Parent Governor, Cavendish Primary School, Chiswick Dr Sheila Hunt, General Practitioner (within LTN area), retd. Dr Radegund Norbury MRCGP, General Practitioner, London Dr Tran Seaton FRCR, Consultant Radiologist, Imperial College NHS Trust Dr Anna Wilson MRCGP, General Practitioner, London Dr Karen Liebreich MBE, Author, Director Abundance London Peter Murray, Architect, Chair Bedford Park Bicycle Club Professor Tom Pike, Professor of Microengineering, Imperial College London Christopher Richardson, Architect Michael Robinson, M.Eng C.Eng MIET, Engineer Christopher Blishen, Business Mentor Paul Campbell, Managing Director, Consulting Business Andrea Carnavali, Filmmaker Keith Dickson, Emeritus Professor of Technology Management, Brunel University Now you can see what Hounslow residents are up against as regards to Grant Shapps (Secretary of State for Transport) who's idea it is, to create low traffic neighbourhoods There is a large biuld up of traffic on other roads, which is creating a lot more pollution. Business have been hit hard due to lack of footfall because of the traffic measures introduced so far, but these people fail to recognise this is happening. They seem unwilling to meet and find out the facts, they just want to push on regardless as the fanatic cyclists they are. |