Author: Ben

Candidates and HCC members
Campaigns, News

Pledges to commit to HCC’s 5 asks for the May 2022 local elections

Ben

Candidates from the four main political parties in Haringey joined members of HCC on a ride on 27 April to experience a mix of better and worse cycling infrastructure in Haringey. We also asked each party to pledge to commit to Haringey Cycling Campaign’s 5 asks.

Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens [between them, receiving 92.5% of the votes cast in Haringey] all pledged:

On behalf of all 57 Haringey Liberal Democrat candidates I am happy to confirm our support for all of LCC’s policy asks, and in many cases want to go further, as set out in the Haringey Liberal Democrat manifesto.

Luke Cawley Harrison, Haringey Liberal Democrat leader

I regularly cycle in the borough, I love being active and getting places quickly but I often find being a two wheeled road user scary. Haringey Cycling Campaign have brilliant proposals to make cycling safer. These would not only benefit existing cyclists but encourage more people out of their cars to join us! We would all benefit from cleaner air.

Rosie Pearce, Green Party candidate for Seven Sisters Ward, writing on behalf of Emma Chan and Harry Chrispin, Haringey Green Party leaders

We’re really committed to delivering schemes that will fulfil these asks, however some of these schemes need funding from TfL, while others need further feasibility – if we don’t deliver the specific schemes listed, we’ll deliver schemes like them – for more detail on Haringey Labour’s take on the asks, see below and also the Haringey Labour manifesto

Mike Hakata, Haringey Labour deputy leader, writing on behalf of Peray Ahmet, Haringey Labour leader

Below is the detailed response from Mike Hakata to each of Haringey Cycling Campaign’s 5 asks:

Dear HCC,
Thank you for the pledges. My responses are below.

HCC Top 5 Priorities to be delivered and operational no later than May 2026:

1. Two additional north-south cycle lanes and a continuous east-west cycle lane
The cycle lanes must be fully segregated and must connect at both ends into the cycle lanes of neighbouring Boroughs. One of the north-south cycle lanes must go down Green Lanes and HCC to be consulted on all routes.

In the Walking and Cycling Action Plan passed by Cabinet in March we have already committed to and budgeted for several strategic cycle lanes which will criss-cross the borough. These include a North/South route along Green Lanes with the aim of running from Enfield to Hackney. The first stage of this work is fully funded and will focus on the Turnpike Lane to Finsbury Park section. We are also working on improving and extending Q10 from Bowes down to Turnpike Lane.   We will also install a route connecting Tottenham Hale to Northumberland Park and explore an additional lane along Wightman Rd. There are a number of East-West routes which are budgeted for and include work on CFR2, connecting Tottenham Hale to Camden, St Ann’s Rd, Lordship Lane, Tottenham Lane and White Hart Lane.
HCC will be consulted on all designs.

2. Commit to 100% Borough wide LTN coverage delivering 75% coverage by 2026
The phased implementation of LTNs should include the delivery of the greater of a minimum of 3 LTNs per year or LTN coverage to increase by 15% of the Borough per year.

This summer will see the rollout of 3 large LTNs in Bounds Green, Bruce Grove/West Green and St Ann’s, covering approximately 15% of the borough. Once capacity has been mapped out we will begin work on two further budgeted for LTNs in Alexandra North and North Tottenham. Design work will be undertaken this year and implementation will be next year. These two LTNs are both large and will cover another approximate 15%. We will explore the implementation of smaller schemes to compliment the schemes noted above during this time. It is our expectation to continue rolling out schemes at this pace and so should expect boroughwide coverage of 60% by 2026. However, it should be noted that we are undertaking other small and large-scale traffic management/public realm improvement schemes during this time which are not officially being named as LTNs such as the Ladder/Wightman/Endyminion/Turnpike& Green Lanes project and the Queens Street project on the border of Enfield.

3. School streets to be introduced for every school in Haringey
This includes Primary & Secondary schools and colleges. Where schools are located on main roads alternative safe cycling arrangements and air quality mitigations should be introduced. 

We have so far rolled out 23 school streets and have 2 more we expect to go live in the coming weeks. We have pledged to install 60 over the course of the next 4 years which will mean every school, including secondaries, which are able to have a school street will have one.

4. To commit to Vision Zero: eliminating all serious cycle injuries caused by motor vehicles 
Haringey’s cycle injury elimination strategy must include reducing speed limits to 20mph on all remaining 30mph & 40mph roads by 2024 and upgrading all dangerous road junctions.

Cabinet passed the Road Danger Reduction Action Plan in the March Cabinet which underlines our commitment to Vision Zero. We are investing millions in safe walking schemes including improved public realm, pavements, crossings, signs and speed mitigation measures.

5. Create a pro-cycling culture in Haringey 
This should include additional school cycle training (including every primary school pupil to be given Level 1-3 training continuing to secondary school) and every transport interchange, town centre, retail parade, residential street and residential estate to have either a bike hangar or cycle stand.

We are exploring an alternative model to cycle training in order to safeguard and expand provision across the borough as well as build the best working terms and conditions for trainers.

Mike Hakata, Haringey Labour deputy leader
Candidates from the four main parties viewing newly finished work on CS1
Events, News

Haringey environment hustings 12 April

Ben

Elections for Haringey Council are taking place on Thursday 5 May.

Come and quiz the local parties on their active travel, environment and climate commitments at an online hustings event on Tuesday 12 April 7.00pm to 8.30pm.

This is a key way to show candidates the support for making active travel, climate change and the environment a top priority.

Organised by Friends of the Earth, with support from Sustainable Haringey, Haringey Cycling Campaign and Haringey Living Streets.

So far Labour (Mike Hakata), Liberal Democrats (Scott Emery), Conservatives (Claudia Matthews) and Green Party (Emma Chan) have confirmed their participation.

Watch a recording of the hustings here
Email your candidates – takes less than a minute!
Low traffic neighbourhood
Consultations, News

Draft Walking & Cycling Action Plan Consultation

Ben
Low traffic neighbourhood

Haringey Council’s draft Walking and Cycling Action Plan consultation closed on 10 January 2022. Together with several local organisations, Haringey Cycling Campaign submitted a detailed joint response to the plan and below is a brief summary of our key points:

  • We encourage Haringey Council to reallocate road space, creating quality cycle routes and safe junctions as standard throughout the borough. Our aim is to help create a network where cycling is a safe and enjoyable form of day-to-day travel for all.
  • Other London boroughs are taking up the challenge to create safe cycle networks and Haringey is currently being left behind, particularly when compared to neighbours Islington and Camden. Both these boroughs have brought forward their safe network targets in the light of changed transport use during the pandemic. Haringey has declared bold aims but we’d like to ensure that these become a reality.
  • Connectivity, where routes are safe, segregated where possible and continuous, particularly at junctions, is key to making Haringey’s streets open for cyclists of all ages. This will enable children who could cycle to school and also mobility-impaired users. It will also encourage women to cycle more, reducing the gender gap – research shows that 79% of women favour more protected cycle routes.
  • We urge Haringey to look at a united action plan for different forms of transport so that upgrades include road safety for all as a priority. We’d like to see assessment of projects requiring reallocation of road space and clear target completion dates that the council will work towards.  
  • We encourage all communities to explore a safe cycle network, allowing us to reach our full cycling potential. We look forward to working with Haringey to create a cleaner, greener borough.

You can read our full joint response, including appendices in one large file here (10MB pdf), or you can view the individual parts: joint response letter, Appendix 1, Appendix 2, Appendix 3.

Read the draft plan
Group bike ride
Campaigns

5 asks for the local elections 2022

Ben

Ahead of May’s local elections, we wrote to the leaders of the main parties in Haringey to ask for their support for our ‘5 asks’. These are 5 specific requests that, if implemented, will help achieve our vision for a Haringey where it’s safe and enjoyable to walk and cycle.

Labour, LibDems and the Greens have all pledged to support our asks – between them, these parties received 92.5% of the votes cast in Haringey in 2022 – read their detailed responses here.

Haringey Cycling Campaign (HCC) calls on Haringey Council to commit to safe, enjoyable cycling for all and to guarantee that all new cycling infrastructure conforms to national guidelines (LTN 1/20) and is safe enough to be used by families and schoolchildren.

We have set out below our top five priorities for cycling in Haringey for the next four years which we would like each party to unconditionally endorse (i.e. not subject to external funding) by including them within their manifesto for the upcoming local elections (May 2022).

HCC’s Top 5 Priorities to be delivered and operational no later than May 2026:

  1. Two additional north-south cycle lanes and a continuous east-west cycle lane
    The cycle lanes must be fully segregated and must connect at both ends into the cycle lanes of neighbouring Boroughs. One of the north-south cycle lanes must go down Green Lanes and HCC to be consulted on all routes.
  2. Commit to 100% Borough wide LTN coverage, delivering 75% coverage by 2026
    The phased implementation of LTNs should include the delivery of the greater of a minimum of 3 LTNs per year or LTN coverage to increase by 15% of the Borough per year.
  3. School streets to be introduced for every school in Haringey
    This includes Primary & Secondary schools and colleges. Where schools are located on main roads alternative safe cycling arrangements and air quality mitigations should be introduced. 
  4. To commit to Vision Zero: eliminating all serious cycle injuries caused by motor vehicles
    Haringey’s cycle injury elimination strategy must include reducing speed limits to 20mph on all remaining 30mph & 40mph roads by 2024 and upgrading all dangerous road junctions.
  5. Create a pro-cycling culture in Haringey
    This should include additional school cycle training (including every primary school pupil to be given Level 1-3 training continuing to secondary school) and every transport interchange, town centre, retail parade, residential street and residential estate to have either a bike hangar or cycle stand.
School street in operation in Haringey
Consultations, News

How to respond to the draft Walking & Cycling Action Plan consultation

Ben
School street in operation in Haringey
School street in operation in Haringey

A recent government opinion poll showed 75% of people favoured encouraging people to walk or cycle to work instead of driving, with only 4% against. 

Haringey Council is giving everyone an opportunity via this link to help shape Haringey’s walking and cycling action plan (WCAP) for the next 10 years.

Please take a moment to fill it in and pass the link on to others who can add their voice. The aim is to secure a long-term vision for a greener borough where walking and safe cycling play a key part. This will be the borough’s chance to engage with an active travel agenda, improving the health and safety of its residents, whilst reducing local pollution. 

Your replies will help shape the council’s priorities in an ambitious 10-year action plan. Elements include Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), new cycle lanes and safer journeys for pedestrians, with public transport prioritised over driving. 

Haringey states that its vision is simple: by 2031, they want:

  • A reputation for being one of the best walking and cycling boroughs, both regionally and nationally.
  • Walking and cycling as natural choices.
  • Active travel to have improved the wellbeing of residents.
  • To reduce motor vehicle use.

These are big ideas and we’d love to see them happen. There’s an election in May 2022 and a strong response now will help prioritise these aims for all councillors.

Firstly, there is a ‘Vision and Policies Questionnaire‘ with 11 brief questions. We encourage you to “agree” or “strongly agree” where asked, adding your own comments in the spaces provided.

There is also a short Delivery Plan Questionnaire, which sets out specific projects and has 7 questions. Again, we encourage you to “agree” or “strongly agree” where asked.

As well as answering the queries, you can leave comments on the interactive map by pinning a site where you feel changes need to be made.

For question 7, you might like to include some of the points we make here or below:

  • Connectivity is what’s needed or bad experiences will turn people back to their cars. 
  • Road upgrades are only useful if safety is the first priority, otherwise it will just lead to faster speeds and more drivers in cars.
  • GPS has changed road use so that even smaller residential roads are becoming rat runs as cars try to avoid traffic on main thoroughfares.
  • Can the 2031 deadline be chunked into smaller deadlines so we can follow progress and witness accountability?

The consultation period ends on 10th January so please circulate this to others so that everyone can share their views. There will be a pop-up in-person session:
Saturday 11th December 10am – 2pm at St Ann’s Library N15 5PU.

There will also be two online public meetings to hear more about the plan and to ask the council questions:
Wednesday 15 December 6 – 8pm
Thursday 6 January 6 – 8pm
Click on your preferred date and follow the Eventbrite registration instructions.

Respond to the consultation
Cyclist+pedestrians in LTN
Consultations, News

Low Traffic Neighbourhood consultations – respond by 17 Sept

Ben

Haringey Council has finally launched consultations for three low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) – in St Ann’s, Bruce Grove and Bounds Green. We have 475 London Cycling Campaign members in Haringey – it would be fantastic if as many people as possible could respond by the deadline of 17 September. (Click to join LCC)

Low traffic neighbourhoods reduce through traffic on residential side roads, and encourage residents to walk, cycle, play and meet in a healthier and less polluted environment. 

St Ann’s Scheme
Background: St Ann’s ward, located in the centre of the borough has some of the highest levels of pedestrian and cycling casualties, and the highest levels of through-traffic in the borough. It also has low car ownership with 60% of households having no motor vehicle. The levels of through-traffic are especially detrimental for the seven schools in the ward.
St Ann’s – suggested consultation response: Please show support for Option A proposed by the council, which would significantly reduce levels of through-traffic by five schools and a nursery, improving air quality and road safety for young residents. Option B keeps through-traffic running, through Avenue Road, Cornwall Road, and Black Boy Lane.

Bruce Grove West Green Scheme
Background: The scheme will cover an area stretching from Turnpike Lane station to Tottenham High Road, having been expanded westwards after requests from residents. In the eastern part of the neighbourhood, around 30 people have been hurt walking or cycling in the last 4 years, one of the worst records in London. Bruce Grove is also Haringey’s most densely populated ward and has the lowest proportion of open space (only 5%).
Bruce Grove – suggested consultation response: Please show support for the scheme and give (both positive and constructive) feedback on the design. You may wish to express concern about the difficulty of cycling on many of the one-way streets within the area and also ask the council to improve sections of poor quality pavement alongside the LTN to help make it more inclusive for everyone walking or rolling on the neighbourhood’s streets.

Bounds Green Scheme
Background: Bounds Green has long been plagued by rat-running as commuter traffic leaves the North Circular road and takes a number of residential routes through the area. Haringey is running the consultation alongside the adjacent Bowes LTN trials by Enfield Council with two main areas being implemented. ‘B’ is bounded by the North Circular, Bounds Green Road and High Road to the east. ‘C’ is to the west side and edged by Bounds Green Road, Durnsford Road and the industrial estate. This scheme will enable safe local cycle journeys between Wood Green/Hornsey and Palmers Green.
Bounds Green – suggested consultation response: Please show support for the scheme and give (both positive and constructive) feedback on the design.

Don’t forget the deadline – 17th September 2021!

Below are some links to further resources on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods which explain a little more about them and how they work:

Cllr Mike Hakata on Haringey streets for people
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – frequently asked questions
LTN mythbuster
What’s all the fuss about LTNs? (video)
An Islington case study
An evaluation of four existing schemes in London
Impact of Waltham Forest’s Mini Holland scheme
More resources from Sustrans

(Many thanks to Haringey Living Streets for the above links & text)

Hackney and Islington already have several LTNs – if you have never cycled in an LTN, check out this great short ride filmed there by Jon Stone, and his recent ride from Finsbury Park to Westminster through LTNs and along improved cycle lanes.

School street in operation in Haringey
News

School Streets 2021

Ben

Haringey introduced another four School Streets in September 2021 in addition to 13 already in place and more are planned.

School Streets launched in September 2021

Haringey Cycling Campaign welcomes this move and has written to the council saying so – and suggesting some improvements.

Click here to have your say and tell the council what you think about the School Streets – they are being launched as a 6-month trial. We gather that the responses received so far have been split roughly 50/50 between those in favour and those against, so the more people respond positively, the more likely the schemes are to become permanent.

A School Street is a timed street closure during drop-off and pick-up times outside a school. Usually these last for 1-1.5 hours at the start and end of the school day, tailored to each school’s start and finish times. The School Streets will operate Monday-Friday during term times.

Only people walking and cycling, and those with vehicle exemption permits are eligible to enter the zone. Anyone else driving into the zone during the stated times will receive a fine. You do not need to have an exemption permit to exit from the School Street.

There are two ways that Haringey is operating the School Streets:

Volunteer-led School Streets

Some School Streets will be operated by volunteers who are members of the school community. They will extend a barrier across the street while the School Street is in operation and marshal the barrier to allow permitted vehicles into and out of the street.

To support the volunteers, enforcement officers sometimes help to monitor compliance.

Camera Enforced School Streets

These School Streets will not physically block access to motor vehicles, instead they will be monitored using Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras (ANPR). These cameras monitor the number plates of the vehicles that drive into the street and administer fines if the vehicle is not registered for a permit. The penalty charge issued for driving into a School Street is £130, reduced to £65 if paid within 14 days.

Existing School Streets

Haringey Cycling Campaign has written the following letter to the council welcoming the new school streets and suggesting some improvements:

HCC warmly welcomes the eleven school streets schemes due to be implemented this summer. Overall they should be effective in making walking and cycling to school more attractive and reducing car use. We know many more schools are calling for these measures and look forward to seeing plans for the ‘phase 2’ schools being brought forward without delay.

We have a few queries and suggestions:

1) Do all the schools have cycle training? We think this is essential to complement the physical measures.

2) Could the scheme at Tiverton Primary be expanded to include Pulford Rd and the full length of Fladbury Rd? Closing the road to cars only in front of the school, will not be very effective.

3) The scheme drawings should note the existing cycle contra-flow at Bishopswood Rd (Highgate Junior) and Barratt Avenue (St Paul’s RC Primary).

4) Could there be cycle contra-flow permitted at Halefield Rd and Glendish Rd, for cycle access to Harris Primary Academy?

5) Will the proposed pavement widening at Everington Rd (Coldfal Primary) have a dropped kerb to maintain cycle access to the school?

6) At Highgate Primary, is the slip road to North Hill included as a school street? It is noted for markings but is not coloured green. As previously suggested, cycle contraflow should be allowed at the slip road.

7) The Nightingale Lane school street (Campsbourne Schools) is too short, leaving “school run” parking only a short distance from the schools. Could Hawthorn and North View roads become school streets, with Nightingale Lane extended to the junction with Beechwood Road? This would be possible with the same number of cameras as the existing scheme.

8) We suggest the scheme for Rokesly Primary could be improved if Rokesly Avenue could be a school street. This might increase traffic diverting to Rosebery Rd and Elder Avenue, however Rokesly Avenue and Elmfield Avenue will continue to be used by buses during school street hours, so this would seem reasonable.

We are pleased to note these schemes are being monitored for the trial period and trust any adverse impacts can be mitigated by measures put in place as needed. Many of the schemes could become part of future LTN’s.

There could be a very effective “mini LTN” at Highgate Primary, to include closing the narrow one-way section of Storey Road to motor traffic and replacing the narrow and convoluted footpath to Sheldon Avenue by a wider and well-lit direct connection, for pedestrians and cycles.

Yours sincerely,
Michael Poteliakhoff
for Haringey Cycling Campaign

cc Cllr Mike Hakata, Cllr Matt White, Neil Goldberg, Maurice Richards, Calum Jacobs, Simi Shah