Have your say: Hackney Council consults on congestion, cycling, walking and buses

No two ways about it: Stoke Newington High Street at present. Photo: Hackney Council

Hackney residents are being asked what improvements they want to see to make getting about the borough safer and easier. The council is consulting on what is being called its ‘local implementation plan’ for 2011-2014. It sets out its proposals for implementing the London mayor’s transport strategy locally.

The official aim of the plan is “an efficient, sustainable transport system that will connect and integrate Hackney with the rest of London and beyond”.

The council says that too much motorised traffic (cars and lorries etc) currently use Hackney’s roads, and that “congestion on the road network has an adverse impact on economic activity and can make areas less attractive to live”. It gives a number of ways in which people might be encouraged to get round the borough using cleaner, safer and less noisy means.

The proposals include measures to increase the number of people who cycle and walk as well as to reduce the number injured and killed by motor vehicles and to make cycling safer.

Targets include:

1. Increasing from 13% to 15% the proportion of residents travelling to work by cycle as the main mode by 2013/14 and to 20% by 2031.
2. Increasing from 51% to 100% the proportion of residents living within a 3 minute walk of a car club bay by 2014.

Commenting on the consultation document, a spokeperson for Hackney Friends of the Earth said, “Schemes include cycle awareness training for lorry drivers, and more cycle training for adults and estate cycle parking. It also includes investigating the removal of the Stoke Newington gyratory as part of creating a cycle ‘superhighway’ route along the A10. Another aim is to improve the reliability of the borough’s bus services, which suffer from notorious delays and bunching. A reduction in the carbon emission associated with transport is also part of the plans.”

Councillor Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “We want to ensure that the second Local Implementation Plan helps deliver an efficient, sustainable transport system that will connect and integrate Hackney with the rest of London and beyond. This will enable easy access to economic, social and cultural opportunities both locally and London wide. It is essential that we hear from local people, businesses, community groups and other stakeholders to ensure they are involved in its preparation.”

Comments received will be considered as part of the production of the final plan, which will be produced by summer 2011. The document will then be submitted to the Mayor of London for approval.

The consultation runs till 6 May.

View the consultation documents and have your say here.

Alternatively, send in your view by email or post; download the LIP 2 questionnaire (PDF, 214KB) and return your response by either email to: consultation@hackney.gov.uk
or by post to: LIP 2 Consultation, Freepost 18819, Consultation Team, London Borough of Hackney, Mare Street, E8 1EA.

There is also a stakeholder workshop planned for Hackney and London based organisations with an interest in transport issues in the borough. There is a ‘short and focussed’ session to discuss the plans and network on Wednesday 2 March 2011, 10am-12noon, at Assembly Hall, Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street, London E8 1EA. Places are limited, to book a space email: consultation@hackney.gov.uk

For more information about the consultation, including requests for translated versions, please contact the Traffic and Transportation team on 020 8356 4891; email: consultation@hackney.gov.uk; or visit the LIP2 consultation page.