Sunday, 29 November 2020

REMOVAL OF TEMPORARY CYCLE LANES: A VICTORY FOR SENSE

 



                                           Leader Material?

What a change Thalassites makes from 'we hear but we don't listen' Cllr Weale. 

He does something quite extraordinary for this council: he actually HEARS AND LISTENS!

Cllr Thalassites is honest enough to admit the lanes were an idea that didn't work and that they were to be removed at the behest of residents and local business. 

Imagine if Cllr Weale was running Planning, Place and Environment. We would have been stuck with them for decades.


REMOVAL OF TEMPORARY BICYCLE LANES ON KENSINGTON HIGH STREET
I am writing to let you know that I have asked Council Officers to begin removing the temporary bicycle lanes on Kensington High Street from 2 December 2020.
In the spring, different layers of Government instructed the Council to build a ‘pop up’ route “within weeks”. We had hoped that a scheme might help local businesses attract shoppers to the high street; and that residents would regard as useful an east-west path.
Alas - more than two months after installing temporary ‘wands’ on the road - it is clear that large majorities of local businesses and residents do not think the experiment has worked.
Kensington Business Forum and Kensington and Chelsea Chamber of Trade and Commerce have asked the Council to take out the lanes, so that they can make the most of a busy holiday season; as have our resident associations across the high street, due to increased congestion.
We understand this ask is supported by disability groups, such as Action Disability K&C, who are anxious about impacts on their members (including visually impaired people); as well as by Felicity Buchan MP and Tony Devenish AM, who ran a local survey on the subject.
We want to listen to local businesses and local people. That is why we have acted to get the high street moving again.
Nonetheless, we know there are some residents who liked the project. We will continue to promote cycling and walking in the borough. To that end, we want to build on popular actions - from upgrading quiet bike routes on side streets, to a trial closure of Portobello Road on 'market days'.
We expect work to take the lanes out will last five days. Some of the work will depend on weather, but I have asked our engineers to progress as quickly as it is safe to do so.
have also asked for non-emergency highways and utilities works along the road to be suspended in December.
I wish you all the best - and a happy Christmas - in these uncertain times.

Yours faithfully,

Councillor Johnny Thalassites Lead Member for Planning, Place and Environment Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

10 comments:

  1. The "mood" of this communication from Johnny Cllr is just right. He is one of the new intake (19 of them) organised before the last election by the Conservative Association Chair, Cllr Julie Mills.

    Thank you Julie Mills for a first move to bring Hornton Street into the 21st Century

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    1. I was chatting to Cllr Mills recently about the state of things and we touched on her initiative, when she was Chair of the Association, to refresh the Conservative benches in Hornton Street. It occurred to me that she was only successful because she moved so fast that the old guard did not notice what was going on.

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  2. What is interesting about Cllr Thalassites is that he is smart enough to know when something is not working and to cut it. He also grasps that he there to serve residents.

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  3. Dame
    How about a resident poll to see who readers feel is best for the job?

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  4. Completely agreed Justin. It takes a lot of leadership skills and courage to listen and make pragmatic decisions such as this one. Johnny has our full support.

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  5. These lanes were irresponsible. Only topped by the Fox Primary School calling for a protest “joyride” on the last day of lockdown.

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  6. I completely agree that the lanes should be removed. The number of cyclists I've seen in the lanes do not warrant the chaos and inconvenience the lanes cause to the flow of traffic in the area. The access to cyclists was never a problem on this road. The whole scheme is ill thought out and should be terminated without delay.

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