Stop Possible New Road Closures
As you are probably aware, at the recent local elections in May Labour were returned with an increased majority. Although only 1/3 of those eligible actually voted, and obviously not all of those voted Labour, Cllr Loakes is claiming this as a vote for the success of his Mini Holland project and as a mandate to continue with detrimental road closures, copenhagen crossings etc. Of course there is no way of knowing whether all those Labour voters were voting for MH or perhaps for other reasons.Mr Loakes now feels mandated to start to close roads in the Markhouse area and possibly to re-activate his attempts to close Howard Rd, Falmer Rd and Hurst Rd. He has been seen boasting to members of other local authorities about his "success" in turning a pedestrian alley into a dangerous shared space.
As we all know, road closures have nothing at all to do with encouraging cycling, but are in fact counter-productive to most of the goals Mini Holland is supposed to achieve. Road closures lead to more congestion, slower moving traffic and therefore more pollution. The delays caused to journeys have affected all our buses, emergency vehicles, carers for people with disabilities, small businesses and all residents. The longer journeys we all make are causing the opposite of what MH intends.
HOWARD,FALMER & HURST RDS
The closure of Howard Road by Cllr Loakes, over-riding local ward councillors and his officers, has resulted in twice as much traffic using Falmer Road. You will remember Our Streets’ survey which showed that very few residents wanted Howard Road closed, although a number were in favour of a partial one-way system. Please be aware that the minority who wanted closure are now conducting their own survey trying to persuade residents to accept permanent road closure and also closure in Falmer Road and Hurst Road. We fought this off once before. Please make sure you and your neighbours fight it off again. Closing these roads would be disastrous.
MARKHOUSE “VILLAGE”
Clyde Loakes has already been advised of the Government’s Women and Equalities Committee’s recommendation that Copenhagen crossings should be stopped because they are dangerous. He told us he is not interested in their advice and went ahead constructing them in Markhouse area anyway. Now the MH officers are consulting about “environmental improvements” which it is now clear means road closures. The pro MH people are already very well organised on social media and have tried to pack the consultation meetings. This does not mean that they represent the majority view. A number of residents are already starting to campaign against the possible road closures. They have set up a document collecting views at
Waltham Forest Streets for All is supporting the residents with this initiative.
So please click on the link, fill in the form yourselves, spread the word on social media and tell all your friends and neighbours, especially if they live or work in the Markhouse area.
