Tooting Labour at 6's & 7's on safer streets

To get one thing straight from the off, this isn't me 'just' having a go at the local Labour team. There are good people who support them, and campaign on their behalf, but as you'll see the lack of consistency on safer streets is glaring.

I was delighted to see that the Labour Bedford ward councillor has finally put up a post relating to the Balham High Road consultation that closes this Sunday. It's unfortunate that with only a few days to go the chance of them actually encouraging and boosting responses is limited. Still, better late than never I guess.

Yet, these views seem to contradict those of our local MP, also Labour's mayoral candidate:

Do @ZacGoldsmith @SadiqKhan want to kill London's early investments in cycle transport? https://t.co/73VUzme52K pic.twitter.com/2yjC70aJKL

— cyclistsinthecity (@citycyclists) November 10, 2015

With his office on that stretch of road, it's hard to think that he can't be aware of the danger.

So, which is it? 'Roads for cars' or 'streets for people'?

Little wonder that the Labour team, whilst having been successful in Tooting elections, have failed to deliver improvements on road safety on local streets for years in Tooting. The Conservatives can't be seen as being much better, they run the council and yet these proposals are the ones that have come to the fore.

Supported by the local Lib Dems, I've been able to run a series of campaigns and petitions. The delay in them being acted upon is illustrated by the two opposing points of view taken by the Labour team that represent the people of Tooting.

Traffic counts - not necessary

The traffic measures which have been implemented to allow the essential gas works to take place on Trinity Road are pretty significant.

Nice work @TfL and @wandbc guess people with prams etc can dodge the cars. Temporary layout designs out ppl on foot. pic.twitter.com/AO7PXRFaCu

— Jon Irwin (@Jon_events) June 28, 2015

If residents happened to petition on something like this, it is likely that the council may suggest that the potential for traffic displacement to neighbouring streets would mean that it wouldn't work. eg Kettering Street paper 15-238

I did the following FOI request to see if any consideration had been given to taking traffic counts to see what actually happens when compared to the traffic models.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/traffic_counts_for_temporary_roa

The response is:

Wandsworth Borough Council, Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police Traffic Division had considered traffic count variables on Trinity Road for the traffic management plan for the works.  Transport for London’s Traffic Flow Data system was used to ascertain the volume of traffic.   The Council did not undertake a traffic count for each of the roads listed below as Officers did not consider it necessary.

This raises three questions:

1. Why were the fears of traffic displacement raised as a  reason to recommend no further action for the trial proposed for the Kettering Street petition? 
2. Why wasn't this information used as part of the Fishponds Road area consultation to highlight to residents that their fears of traffic gridlock were unlikely to occur? 
3. Why is it that councillors on the relevant committee aren't questioning officers given that they are aware from local groups of the evidence that contradicts council positions? 

Don't forget to add your support to the petitions that the Lib Dems are supporting me with locally. It is only with your support that we'll be able to make positive improvements. Labour and the Tories seem too dead set against making positive things happen for the time being.

A letter to the Borough Commander - engaging with the police

The growing number of police that are actively using social media (Twitter) in particular, is a really good way to engage on issues that might otherwise drop by the wayside.

As a result of the exchange below:

@Jon_events Probably the best way is a direct letter to te borough commander expressing your concerns...
— Sgt Nathan Shickle (@MPSBatterseaSgt) April 16, 2015

It prompted me to write to Wandsworth Borough commander. Given that the issues raised aren't unique to Wandsworth, I've sent a copy through to Sir Hogan-Howe as well as Living Streets and London Cycling Campaign.

I also dropped along to my local Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) meeting to raise the issue there. You can find details about your local team here. If you are interested in getting involved, some details about what you can do here.

And here's the letter, dropped it in to the Police Station on the 21st April 2015.

-----------------------------------------

Dear Borough Commander,

I am writing to ask you how we can more effectively tackle anti-social and dangerous behaviour by people driving on our streets.

The SNT meetings are a great forum to allow very local concerns to be flagged. However, whilst I live in a particular street in a particular ward (Furzedown), political boundaries do not apply in terms of the streets that I need to use to travel around the borough. Indeed, Wandsworth Council recognises this when, for example, it designs formal cycle routes that link different destinations across the borough. As a family we rarely use our car, most of the time we walk, cycle or use public transport.

Council policy (not under your remit) is to wait for 3 KSI's to occur in a given location in 3 consecutive years before the highway engineers at the council will investigate options to provide safer streets. Alternatively, 25% of households in the street/locality need to prepare and gather a petition. I’m not too keen on anyone having to be one of those KSI's to effect change. I don't think the current approach is an acceptable approach for a public authority - especially one that has recently taken charge of public health in Wandsworth.

In Wandsworth, people talking on their phones while driving, or driving at speeds which are inappropriate for their surroundings - to take two examples of commonly seen behaviour - rarely place the individuals driving at serious risk of injury. For those of us who are walking or cycling, however, a moment's carelessness or inattention by drivers can have serious or fatal consequences for us or our loved ones. The asymmetry of risk borne by people on foot or bicycle as compared with those within a motor vehicle is, as you will be aware, clearly shown by the road traffic casualty statistics for our borough. And, equally importantly, the perception of danger from motor traffic understandably discourages many people in Wandsworth from walking or cycling - to the detriment of everyone's health and the long-term strain on the NHS.


Moving onto specific asks, I would be grateful if you would consider the following suggestions:

1. I would like your officers to place road danger reduction and enforcement of the rules of the road as a much higher priority than it is at present. (For instance: Many drivers continue to seem unaware of Highway Code rules such as 163 and 170, both of which directly affect the safety and perceived safety of cyclists and pedestrians across our borough).

2. I would like Wandsworth Police to be supportive of consultations regarding street design and management that the professionals involved (notably highway engineers and public health officers) believe will reduce road danger and help 'rebalance' our streets towards benign modes of transport.


I make these requests in the light of supportive comments by the Mayor in response to Mayoral Questions at the London Assembly about the important role of the Metropolitan Police in supporting walking and cycling. I hope you will also agree that, at this time of pressure on public budgets, it is particularly important for us to have evidence-based policing, in order to help ensure that policing is as cost-effective as possible.


By way of background, you may be interested in the findings and recommendations of the Transport Safety Commission, which has recently made available a well argued report 'UK Transport Safety: Who is Responsible?'. You can download the prepublication version and see further details via www.pacts.org.uk/transport-safety-commission/


Happy to meet to discuss. I look forward to hearing back from you.

------------------------------------------

Will be interesting to see what response I get. If the letter resonates with you, and you don't live in Wandsworth, then feel free to adapt/tweak and contact your Borough Commander. Issues are only issues if we raise them. 

At a council level, if you'd like to see Wandsworth Council adopt a pro-active approach to reducing road danger, then do lend your support to this petition.

Easter: 'he will rise again'

Whilst I don't hold a religious faith, the story associated with Easter and Christ rising from the dead is one that I've grown up with.

I think it's also worth remembering the many that don't rise again, the fallen on our roads.

This image is from the constituency dashboard. Tooting has 55% higher level of pedestrian casualties than the national average. Worth noting that the data source for the figures are STATS19 (reported road collisions). With minor injuries the National Office for Statistics estimates that these could be under reported by a factor of 4.

At the same time that PACTS went live with the dashboard, they also released this report with a lot of very practical ideas that will hopefully be implemented by the next government (whatever form it takes - minority/coalition or unlikely but possible majority government).

We have become numb to the regular reporting of carnage on our streets. This 21 year old lady in Kingston crossing the road on foot next to her university was killed this week. The occupants of the car have survived with minor injuries.

The PACTS report linked above highlights the different approaches taken to reducing danger using different transport modes (road/rail/air) in the UK. Without serious change, more people and families will continue to lose loved ones needlessly.

At present, in Wandsworth, 3 people need to be killed or seriously injured on council managed roads, or a major petition has to be presented to allow our highway engineers to look into road safety improvements.

I don't think that's right. If you live, work or study in the borough, from Tooting in the south to Battersea in the north or Putney in the west, and agree with me, please lend your support to this petition calling for change borough-wide.

As year end approaches a new petition commences

It's been a while since the last petition went live, but in my defence I've been a little busy. The arrival of a first baby into the family does tend to necessitate a slight shift in normal patterns.

Tooting Bec Road has long been on my list of streets to try to fix, if you could lend your support as you may have done with other petitions in the past that would be awesome.

Please add your name via this link: Let's make Tooting Bec Road safe for all!

Thanks to Northern Ireland Greenways for the inspiration for the image (@nigreenways twitter feed). With progress being made as a result of several other local petitions to improve our streets, I'm confident that with enough support this ask is achievable.

Hoping for progress in the new year on:

• Bikehangars for Wandsworth
• Mitcham Lane redesign (with cycle lanes)
• Balham Boulevard consultation
• Contraflow cycling permitted on some one-way streets

If you haven't seen the presents Santa gave us via TfL this Xmas, and are interested, do have a gander at the following documents:

• International Cycling Infrastructure Best Practise Study
• International Cycling Infrastructure Best Practise Study appendix
• London Cycle Design Standards

All available to download off this page: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/cycling

Safer, enabling, empowering streets

Often in talking about 'cyclists' there is quite a narrow image of the sort of person that people conjure up in their mind. Isabelle Clements director of Wheels for Wellbeing as part of 1000 Londoners, 1 story project (has been interviewed in this video).

It is a powerful, beautiful reminder that in creating safer streets we enable and empower more members of our community to more fully participate, explore and engage with the world around us. 

Do take a few moments to watch.

PS for those watching #24HrsAE last night, if you know someone who for one reason or another has a physical mobility issue do check out Wheels for Wellbeing. As Isabelle says, her wheels give her wings. 

Fircroft Primary school parents let down by Tooting Labour

Quite rightly there has been a lot of discussion recently about road safety. In the run up to the local elections alongside the discussions for Fishponds Road, the parents of children going to Fircroft Primary school voiced their concerns via a petition (organised by Tooting Labour) for a zebra crossing.

You can see the paper going to committee next week here with the council's response to the petition.

In my view, there are two ways to look at Labour's support for this petition - cynical or inept.

Why could it be seen as inept?

The local Labour team should be well aware of the policies that are in place to get change to happen. If they aren't, little wonder that problems have dragged on in Tooting for years. Instead of engaging with officers, and the petitioners to confirm the number of signatures needed and then forcing the council to act in light of their campaigning the result is frustrated local residents.

Why could it be seen as cynical? 

The local Labour team are likely to have been fully briefed as to what was needed to effect change. They were more interested in being seen to support change than actually deliver it. Politics at it's worst and part of the reason why in my view there is a distrust of politics.

Further illustration of Labour's desire to campaign on issues which have already been decided is their 'campaign' for cycle parking on the Heritage Estate. Over a year ago with the Wandsworth Cycling Campaign I successfully campaigned to get Bikehangars to Wandsworth. We are pending formal announcement, but the decision has already gone through committee. Now that the council is very close to announcing a trial, lo and behold Tooting Labour are 'campaigning' on this issue.

On a positive note, it does seem from the other papers going to committee next week that there is a huge amount of progress being made as a result of the work of civic society campaigners across the borough. Indeed it does seem that work is in the pipeline for major improvements to Tooting Broadway, something that I've been keen on for a number of years now.

If you would like to join me and the local Lib Dems really campaigning to improve Tooting (whether we win or lose elections) drop a line to info[at]wandsworthlibdems.org.uk

Why Tooting should support TfL's proposals for new Cycle Superhighways

You may have heard the news this week that Transport for London have launched two new consultations for a North-South and East-West cycle superhighways that will run through the centre of London.

Blackfriars Road visualisation - North-South

Victoria Embankment visualisation - East-West

You can, and should respond supporting these consultations on these links:

North-South proposals

East-West

For sure there are some details which could be improved as with any major project, but the core thrust of what could be will be a game changer.

Local impact?

You may be thinking if you live in and around Tooting / Balham, this is all quite nice, but actually I don't really go into the centre of town so this doesn't really affect me.

It does for the following reasons. A few years ago I proposed radical changes to Balham High Road. The Mayor announced funding for TfL to work on it this spring. Looking at some of the details in the Blackfriars Road visualisation gives me a lot of hope that the consultation for Balham High Road next year will be of similar quality.

Tooting High Street and Upper Tooting Road are gridlocked almost every weekend. Earlier this year, with the local Lib Dem team as part of the local elections, we got over 700 signatures on a petition (including paper signatures) calling on the Mayor to make Tooting High Street safe for all.

The proposals for the centre of town show everyone that not only is TfL is capable of doing high quality street design. It also shows that campaigning does work. These proposals wouldn't exist without the efforts of campaigners across London and the London Cycling Campaign.

Will it slow down traffic?

Experience from New York suggests that it won't.

New York: bike tracks are actually speeding up average travel times http://t.co/r1wUvZBqe0 pic.twitter.com/Joofjxc8vm
— cyclistsinthecity (@citycyclists) September 5, 2014

Next steps

Please support the consultations. There are organisations and individuals who don't think that what has been proposed will work, or that it is needed or that people deserve it.

I'd like my children to be able to grow up in a London where as a family we can all ride into the centre of town and the only worries we might have would be if it's going to rain.

PS - I'd also add that the proposals to deal with rat-running on/around the Fishponds Road area, in my view are part of the wider solution to improving our streets. Current views from our elected representatives is that doing nothing is acceptable.

Fishponds - a different take on the consultation responses

The whole Fishponds saga for me is a microcosm of the political challenges that we face as a community if we genuinely wish to see progress. Taken at face value the responses from the consultation seemed to give an overwhelming rejection of the trial approach which my Lib Dem colleagues and I were advocating.

There is cross party consensus that there is a problem, the challenge is doing anything to actually fix it. The pie chart shown above is from the data provided from the consultation (I put in an FOI request to get the breakdown - view pdf here) . I've added an extra layer, which broadly categorises the comments into people who agree there is a problem, those who think there isn't one, those who are undecided, and people using the consultation to flag other issues.

It is worth, in my view, re-visiting part of the conclusion made by the highway engineers/officers who wrote report 13-741:

There is a possibility that there will be a increase in traffic flows in some residential roads due to transfer of traffic on account of the point closures, but this will be offset by the forecasted reduction in traffic over the larger area.

In my view, the officers are stating that resident concerns of an increase in traffic are unlikely to be realised because of the forecasted reduction in traffic over the larger area.

Labour and Conservative councillors on the committee were unanimous in their view that nothing more should be done here in supporting the recommendations in paper 14-371. I should also add, that in my view officers made exactly the right recommendation. Officers work in a political environment where they need to respond to the councillors who are elected to represent us.

It does beg the question, can local people really be too surprised if long standing problems aren't fixed when neither of the two elected parties are prepared to call for any real action? This was the 4th consultation for the same problem in 12 years. No action has been suggested to date (that I'm aware of) by either of the elected parties to resolve this.

With my Lib Dem colleagues we will continue to work hard to get action to fix long standing local problems. That frustration was what led me to stand in the local elections. Officers frequently know how to fix local issues, but all too often our politicians get in the way.

If you are tired and frustrated by the lack of any real action do get in touch. There is a group of people locally who really do want to make a difference. I hope that in future elections people will be able to scrutinise the record of action, or lack thereof, to sort out local problems by those political groups who currently represent us. Maybe in the future we'll have a few more people supporting the Lib Dems locally, and we can really start to fix some of these issues.

Decaying van rusting to bits in the street

It's coming up for two years since I first came to view the property that is now my home in Furzedown. Fairly confident betting that it's been a little longer that this van has been parked on my street.

Thanks to the pro-active nature of the Labour team in Tooting & Furzedown that represent us locally I'm left wondering if they are waiting for the van to naturally decay and then claim that it's as a result of their work!

Another issue on Mitcham Lane is the cars that are regularly parked there for sale, clearly not private re-sellers. If local people keep on voting Labour, we can't be surprised if we keep the same problems.

A Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) would probably help. Even though the lead councillor locally, Cllr Leonie Cooper, is co-chair of SERA (Labour's environmental group), you would have thought that a CPZ might have already been put in place given how long she has been a councillor. Doesn't really say much for her local action/credentials on the environment.

Given the lack of action shown by Labour, with my Lib Dem colleagues we are working to tackle issues such as this. If you'd like to get involved and help out do get in touch.