LTNs! Green Spaces! Active Travel! Pubs! The “Norm” For New Development?
Or, finally, some common sense on LTNs
“[LTNs are] simple and cheap infrastructure which protects our public realm from the worst impacts of cars and drivers’ behaviour and encourages and supports people who choose or have no choice but to walk, cycle or get public transport. We need to do this to support vulnerable members of our society, to reduce isolation, to improve safety and accessibility.” – Campaigners for Save Our Safer Streets
Waaaaaaaay back in August last year I said:
“I note that Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, is recommending that 20mph streets be implemented across London. Hard to believe some boroughs aren’t totally on board with this, but there we are. Given lower speed limits are shown in study after study to be saving lives – hopefully a worthy metric in anyone’s book – the benefits of 20mph limits and zones are clear.
And it’s good, also, to see a letter from Robert Huxford (Director of the Urban Design Group) in the Guardian reminding us all that highway authorities have a statutory duty to promote road safety. 20mph limits and zones are one facet of this and should not be removed without significant reason. As he says:
“The science and evidence are totally clear: revocation of 20mph limits or LTNs will lead to crashes, injuries and deaths. Councillors and their advisers who pursue such actions risk being held personally liable for the harm that ensues.”
A sobering thought.”
At the time, I thought it would be the revocation of 20mph limits in Wales that might cause an issue, but no.
It turns out that right here in London, it’s been found that:
“The mayor of Tower Hamlets acted unlawfully in attempting to remove three low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) schemes, the court of appeal has ruled.”
A TfL spokesperson said:
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision in this case, which provides welcome clarity on the scope of London boroughs’ legal duties to implement and retain schemes funded by TfL to implement the mayor’s transport strategy. Walking and cycling infrastructure, such as low traffic neighbourhoods, plays an important role in making our streets safer.”
All I can say is: thank God!
The good people of Tower Hamlets have been spared. They can keep walking and cycling in relative safety and in peace.
And, I would argue, LTNs can and should form a key part of major housing developments, including of course the new towns.
And, if you are focussing on active travel rather than car travel, there should, in theory at least, be more room for green spaces.
According to the government,
“Housing where shops, schools, public transport and possibly pubs are close by, with green spaces and access to nature, and where heritage is preserved, should be the norm for all new developments, according to guidelines set out by the government.”
No argument here.
But if this approach should be the “norm”, why isn’t it?
Why don’t I see development conforming to this norm coming forward?
Why are major housing schemes still largely homogenous car parks with a few houses shoe-horned into the left-over spaces?
And why are facilities like pubs rarely built?
According to Matthew Pennycook,
“Exemplary development should be the norm, not the exception, so that more communities feel the benefits of new development and welcome it. These standards will help ensure new homes and neighbourhoods are attractive, well-connected, sustainable and built to last.”
It’s by producing this “normal” type of development that we can avoid nimbyism and get local communities on board.
After all, who wants more car-dependent tat being built in their backyard?
I think the Draft Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance has missed a trick. There is no mention of low traffic neighbourhoods in the document when we know that these interventions are making streets safer and saving lives.
The closest we get is a mention of “filtered permeability” tucked away in Part 3. Why not set the scene early and put it front and centre in Part 1?
LTNs are alluded to in Part 1 – “design measures that limit the impacts of car use by prioritising walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport and improving air quality” – but why not just cite them directly?
By all means promote “A connected network of routes for sustainable modes of transport” and “active travel”, but why not go all out naming the design initiatives that can actually make these things a reality?
If the government is serious about supporting 20mph schemes, let’s put some high-octane powder in the cartridge that really supports the people attempting to get them implemented.
Question: What’s your experience of delivering LTNs?
#lowtrafficneighbourhoods #ltn #filteredpermeability #urbandesigngroup
… and if it touched a nerve, you know what to do. Simply…