With local elections looming it's time to think of things that are specific to your voting area that you can ask prospective Cllrs. to pledge to implement if they are elected. They'll most likely just quote the party line on issues like default 20mph where people live etc. However you might get on something specific locally. Here's my draft one for Prince's Ward in Lambeth which has lots of one-way streets:
"If you are elected a Councillor will you pledge to implement changes so that:
a) children from Archbishop Sumner's Primary School can cycle to Oakden Street
on quiet streets without either breaking the law by cycling along the pavement
or having to cycle along a four-lane A road as they do currently?
b) residents of Renfrew Road, Gilbert Road, Wincott Street and Reedworth Street
can cycle on their local streets to a post box and a convenience store without
having to cycle on a four-lane A road?
c) children can cycle on local streets down to Vauxhall City Farm from the
Ethelred Estate without having to cycle on an A road that forms part of the ring
road around the Congestion Zone?"
I'll also include some relevant policy statements - but this is an optional extra as the main thing is to get the points across as above that you want to make:
POLICY
It important that suggested measures in this neighbourhood adhere to Lambeth’s Road User Hierarchy as set out in the Local Implementation Plan 2005 –11:
“A guiding feature of Lambeth's on–going and future action on the highway network is the Road User Hierarchy, set out below. This re-balances priorities for action away from the car and towards pedestrians and cyclists.
In considering the management of Lambeth’s road network and the impact of new development, priority will be given to traffic in the following descending order:
• Walking (including mobility impaired persons)
• Cycling
• Buses
• Rail Services
• Motorcycles/Scooters
• Freight Transport
• Cars
Where possible the trend is to reallocate road space in favour of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport, but Lambeth will need to work closely with all affected stakeholders to ensure that there is reasonable balance between competing modes.”
At national level, the Department of Health and Department for Transport Active Travel Strategy (Feb 2010) highlights plans to put walking and cycling at the heart of local transport and public health strategies over the next decade. The guiding principles for the strategy are that walking and cycling should be everyday ways of getting around - not just for their own sake but also because of what they can do to improve public health, tackle congestion, reduce carbon emissions and improve the local environment
The Government's top health advisor, says cycling must be increased eightfold to combat the public health crisis caused by designing cities around motor vehicles On the state of public health: Annual report of the Chief Medical Officer 2009 (March 2010)
In the annual report Donaldson despairs over the low levels of physical activity in Britain. In particular, he calls for our transport infrastructure to be re-designed in order to encourage the levels of walking and cycling in the Netherlands and Denmark.
The report recommends that: "National targets should be set to double travel on foot in England's towns and cities, and to increase travel by bicycle eightfold; transport policy and road design should support the achievement of such gains." (page 63)
The report says: "There would be significant reductions in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression and dementia. In London alone, over 55,000 healthy years of life could be saved every year. Travel by bicycle or on foot needs to become the safe, viable, attractive option for a far greater proportion of journeys." (page 60)
The report recognises that: "Lifestyle changes can make a substantial contribution to slowing climate change and can significantly reduce the disease and death that are associated with a sedentary lifestyle - a lifestyle to which the current absolute dominance of motorised transport contributes." (page 60)
The Mayor of London’s Cycle Safety Action Plan (2010) states:
The safety of cycling is a major cause of public concern and is the reason most often given by non-cyclists to explain why they do not intend to take up cycling (27%). Less than a half of Londoners (46%) agree with the statement that “Cycling is a safe way of getting about” and 86% of all Londoners believe that traffic makes people afraid of cycling.
Given the existing and potential level of cycling in the neighbourhood it is worth following the DfT Cycle Infrastructure Design Guidance (
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/ltnotes/ltn208.pdf)
"Hierarchy of Provision":
Consider first
Traffic reduction
Speed reduction
Junction treatment, hazard site treatment, traffic management
Reallocation of carriageway space (e.g. bus lanes, widened nearside lanes, cycle lanes)
Cycle tracks away from roads
Consider last
Conversion of footways/footpaths to shared use cycle tracks for pedestrians and cyclists
Finally, the DfT advice on 20mph limits and zones (Dec 2009
Update of guidance on setting local speed limits) states:
· We want to encourage highway authorities to introduce, over time, 20 mph zones or limits into streets which are primarily residential in nature and into town or city streets where pedestrian and cyclist movements are high, such as around schools, shops, markets, playgrounds and other areas, where these are not part of any major through route.
· We want to make it clearer that highway authorities have flexibility in the use of 20 mph zones and limits, and should apply the option best suited to the local circumstances and that brings most benefits in terms of casualty reductions and wider community benefits.
· We want to draw attention to the initial evidence from the trial of wide area signed-only 20mph limits in Portsmouth, and want to make clear that 20 mph limits over a number of roads may be appropriate elsewhere.
· We are setting out that we will consider the requirements for calming measures in 20 mph zones as part of the DfT’s Traffic Signs Policy Review, which was announced in September 2008. In exceptional cases, the Department could also look at giving special authorisation for the use of 20 mph repeater signs, including with accompanying painted roundels, instead of calming measures, on individual streets with low average speeds within a 20 mph zone. (our emphasis).Decisions will, however, be made on a case by case basis.
