Communities at heart of liveable neighbourhoods

A place to stop and talk to friends

Dumfries Street Design Programme saw the regeneration of Queen Street and surrounds improved with feedback from the local community

Local residents creating planters which will add greenery and slow down traffic through their street

Have you ever thought that your neighbourhood could be a better place to live, work, shop, go to school, socialise and play?  

And how often have you thought that schemes which do come forward could be designed with the people who will be using them and benefiting from them?

Sometimes it feels like we can’t do much as individuals to influence where we live and work. That we can’t change our public streets and spaces in the ways that we’d like. But we can.

Communities up and down the country are daring to dream and think big about how their neighbourhoods can and should be improved. When it comes to liveable neighbourhoods, communities are leading the way and politicians are starting to realise this.

New funding for liveable neighbourhoods

In London, funding is to be allocated for major community backed schemes to transform neighbourhoods. The Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) have recently announced a new multi-million pound funding programme to transform town centres and neighbourhoods into more attractive, accessible and people-friendly public spaces.

The new £85.9 million Liveable Neighbourhoods programme gives borough councils the opportunity to bid for funding for schemes that encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport, in line with the Mayor’s Healthy Streets approach. This is a long-term funding programme and boroughs can submit bids at any time. Submissions for each financial year will close in October (20 October for 2017) with announcements of the successful bids made each December.

The recently elected Metro Mayors and other politicians may follow suit, or announce similar initiatives themselves. Interestingly, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has recently followed London’s Sadiq Khan in appointing Chris Boardman to the role of Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester. The move has been coupled with a recent pledge to spend £17 a head on cycling in the city region, matching the figure proposed in London.

And following discussions with local authority leaders, the National Infrastructure Commission has tasked Andrew Gilligan,  former Cycling Commissioner for London, to work with local councils and local organisations to create a vision of what is required for cycling to become a ‘super attractive’ mode of transport in Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

Community supported projects

Significantly, with the new Liveable Neighbourhoods programme, the London Mayor and Transport for London are looking for a wide range of community-supported projects, potentially including the creation of green spaces, new cycling infrastructure, redesigned junctions and the widening of walking routes to improve access to local shops, businesses and public transport.

Projects demonstrating a large amount of popular support are most likely to receive a grant. This is because getting community backing is the best way of capitalising on the wealth of local knowledge and expertise that exists in local groups; it encourages dialogue and collaboration and – crucially - achieves community buy-in for schemes early on, often with much better outcomes. The London Mayor and TfL know this.

So community schemes can help London boroughs attract this Liveable Neighbourhoods funding year on year. And they would support the Metro Mayors and other politicians and councils seeking to emulate London and improve our neighbourhoods in this way.

Why not community devised schemes? 

Change doesn’t have to be instigated solely by local authorities. Communities are promoting their own transformational neighbourhood schemes, too. It’s not as challenging as it sounds, because funding is available to help communities translate their ideas into schemes that have been properly designed and costed.

Community devised schemes can be materialised through the neighbourhood planning process.

Neighbourhood planning was introduced in 2012 under the Localism Act 2011 and updated by the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017.

Communities can set out a shared vision for their neighbourhoods, devising their own policies and proposals rather than commenting on those of others. With well over 200 neighbourhood plans in force and many more in preparation - with more than 1,800 designated neighbourhood plan areas - they are already a well-established part of the English planning system.

How do neighbourhood plans work?

Supported by an evidence base, a neighbourhood plan describes how a community wants to shape its local area, whether it’s placing the public realm at the heart of communities, proposing better streets and public spaces or improving local green space and connectivity.  

It gives power to local people to come together and really influence how local areas develop. Other proposals can include:

• prioritising walking and cycling over motorised vehicles in residential neighbourhoods
• creating better walking and cycling networks to key destinations such as schools, train stations and the high street
• reducing the need to travel, by resisting the loss of sites which are currently used for important local facilities and services.

And there are many other advantages to getting involved in neighbourhood planning:

• local authorities are obliged by law to help communities and support the process from the very beginning, sharing baseline information for example
• the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has made funding available: as at today’s date, all groups writing a neighbourhood plan will be eligible to apply for up to £9,000 in grant, with packages of additional technical support and money where needed
• this money can be used to translate ideas into reality, to plug gaps in technical expertise within communities
• 25% of local authority Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding raised from development in an area with a neighbourhood plan in place can be spent on local infrastructure such as walking and cycling measures and improved green space
• following a successful referendum, a neighbourhood plan that is going to be made carries real legal weight as part of the statutory development plan, which enables communities to have a much stronger role in shaping local areas.

Better places to live and work in action

The Holbeck community in Leeds has dared to be bold. A number of major schemes are identified in the recently submitted Holbeck Neighbourhood Plan (2017-2028), including a new pedestrian/cycle bridge over a railway and the creation of a greenway, using a disused Viaduct, to connect to the city centre.  

These are ambitious proposals to bring about transformational change. Holbeck is a densely populated, inner-city area, encircled by motorways and railways, with industrial estates next to tightly-packed terraced streets. There are limited amenities and the local centre is not well used by pedestrians due to heavy traffic flows and narrow footways. Connections to the city centre and neighbouring areas are difficult.

Yet the Holbeck neighbourhood plan is focused on overcoming these barriers and making the area a more attractive and healthier place, with policies to link and improve local green space, reduce through traffic and improve the attractiveness, accessibility and safety of pedestrian links and cycle ways.

Where do you start?

If you’re interested in changing your neighbourhood, why not find out whether a neighbourhood planning process has started in your area? You may be surprised. Check out map of neighbourhood planning areas online. If not, why not think about beginning the process? 

There are lots of resources available to help and support communities including, for example, advice from the DCLG and the Forum for Neighbourhood Planning.

We can help

Sustrans specialises in community led design. We work with communities to create people-friendly places, helping to transform them into attractive, lively neighbourhoods that are safer and easier to travel through on foot and by bike, improving health, wellbeing and air quality.

Our Community Street Design with Lewisham borough council for Rolt Street, Deptford, has been nominated for the Healthy Street Proposal of the Year Award 2017. The scheme addresses fast-moving traffic, poor visibility and sight lines, park guard railings and a lack of safe crossing points. The community inspired design has reimagined Rolt Street as an extension of Folkestone Gardens – a local urban park – with a one-way traffic calmed boulevard to create a better place for people to walk, cycle, play and stay.

So if you want to start transforming your neighbourhood, get in touch with us!         

The planning system helps decide what gets built, where and when – decisions that can make a big difference to our quality of life. Neighbourhood planning gives local communities the power to push for schemes that will deliver major improvements.

Proactive action can be taken at grass roots level: if the schemes suggested by your local authority aren’t good enough and don’t take account of issues that are important to you and your community, you can access funding to do something about it. And in London, community supported schemes have the potential to attract millions of pounds of funding through the Mayor’s Liveable Neighbourhoods programme.

So why not grasp this opportunity now?

Find out more about community led design

• Communities
• Liveable cities

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Making school-days more an adventure

Brothers Reuben and Rhys look forward to going back to school by bike

Brothers Reuben and Rhys find cycling to school themselves an adventure

Recently I stopped by for a catch up with a couple of friends – Rhys & Reuben. Rhys is 9, and has a wise head on his shoulders. He’s a kid who is naturally curious about the world around him. Since he’s been old enough to say the word, he’s been unwavering in his ambition to become a palaeontologist.

Reuben is his younger brother, a proper live-wire full of energy and giggles, and willing to launch himself full-tilt into anything if it looks fun or adventurous. They’re coming to the end of two months of summer holidays, and starting to think about going back to school.

I asked the boys if they had learned anything over the summer. This was initially met with a flat ‘no’ from both. Learning is for school, and summer is for holiday, and switching your brain off. But then Rhys remembered that he’d learned how to swim the butterfly stroke over the summer. In fact, he’d taught himself at the pool on their family holiday.

This prompted a stream of recollections from both on the various skills they had acquired in the pool. Reuben had learned how to dive to the bottom of the pool and collect diving rings. Both boys learned to swim lengths, to pull off spectacular dives, and to swim underwater. And as well as learning new skills, they got to pass some on. Rhys and his older brother, Isaac, taught their mum to swim. Reuben, not to be outdone, taught her to blow bubbles and sing underwater. Key life skills to benefit the whole family.

Back to school doesn’t have to be a bore

I asked the boys how they were feeling about going back to school, after a summer with so much fun and adventure. At first, they didn’t seem keen on the idea. Rhys said that with school, you always have to be on time, be ready for your lessons, that you can’t just do what you want. The boys seem quite taken with the freedom that summer brings, and the ownership of their time. Something that definitely rings true for me as an adult.

But then they started talking about the good things about school – that you get to hang out with your friends all day, and you can learn all kinds of new and interesting things. They had some great ideas for making school more exciting, and a bit more like summer. Both boys loved the idea of doing more of their lessons outside. Why measure the circumference of a circle on a piece of paper, when you can measure the circumference of an actual tree? Rhys thought that more activity trips would be great fun, because they are such a good experience. Reuben thought that school would be greatly enhanced with built-in nap-time. Smart kid!

Rhys and Reuben both go to a local primary school in Belfast which is part of the Sustrans Active School Travel programme. They’ve been throwing themselves into the various active school travel challenges and activities throughout the year with bags of enthusiasm, and the journey to school has become something that they both really enjoy. Interestingly, when I asked them what they thought would motivate more people to walk, scoot or cycle to school, they put a big emphasis on whole class rewards. Rhys would rather win some extra play time for his whole class than an individual prize that only he can enjoy. That kind of attitude creates a wonderful opportunity for encouraging more children and families to be active on the school run.

Cycling to school

Active school travel is a great way for kids to keep learning and reinforcing some of the great life lessons they’ve been picking up through the summer. The boys’ mum, Kelly, feels that the opportunity to cycle to school through the park on their own has been so important in helping her two older boys become more independent – especially oldest brother Isaac, who is off to secondary school this year.

It is teaching the boys to take responsibility for themselves and each other. She also feels that it gives the boys a chance to bond and develop their social relationships without their mum always being around. It’s just a short trip through the park to school, but it is building on all that fun and adventure that the boys have experienced throughout the summer holidays.

Rhys and Reuben have had a brilliant summer, but it’s great to see them greet the new school year with enthusiasm. What I picked up from them in our conversation is that they understand that learning is not restricted to the classroom, but there are learning opportunities all around them.

The fresh confidence they have built over the summer as they learned to swim underwater and dive is something they will keep developing through something as simple as a cycle to school. Confident, independent, equipped and responsible young people with a taste for adventure – whether it’s a day in the pool, or the journey to school, kids are keen for the opportunity to learn new life skills, if we give them the freedom and opportunity to try things out. And in return, they might even teach you to blow bubbles underwater.

Read more about the Active School Travel Programme in Northern Ireland

Sustrans’ work in schools across the UK

• Communities
• Cycling
• Lifestyle
• Policy
• Schools
• Young people

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Vocational GCSEs may be holding girls back, research suggests

Girls who take ‘applied’ subjects, such as health and social care or home economics, at GCSE may be facing educational disadvantage as a result, a new study has found.

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A pedal back down memory lane is a reminder of why the new Government needs to step up its cycling game

Wayne Hemingway portrait

Cyclebag’s 1979 rally in Castle Park, Bristol

This post by Wayne Hemingway was first published on Huffington Post UK. 

It’s not breaking news that cycling is good for you and the world around you. Alongside walking, it’s part of the solution to many of the challenges we face in towns and cities – congestion, air pollution, physical inactivity and inequalities: economic, social and health.

Cycling can heal inequalities yet bringing it to the people has too often been too difficult a task. But it shouldn’t be.

Lately, cycling has been found to spark a leap in property prices. A new survey conducted by Systra, the company behind the development of the Mini-Holland scheme in Walthamstow, London’s latest top property hotspot, reveals that the installation of high-quality cycle infrastructure can boost house prices by 50%.

Great news as it must be for property investors, it shows there now is a tangible link between property value and cycling. It can lead to cycle infrastructure being considered on a par with motor transport infrastructure, something that the public sector has for years struggled to make a case for, despite the simple, and practical, concept of cycling – connecting people and places.

In 2007, I backed Sustrans’ bid to win £50 million from the Big Lottery Fund to create 84 new walking and cycling networks. The grant meant the National Cycle Network, which the charity is the guardian of, was to be extended into the heart of communities across the UK.

Upon completion of the programme, as many as four million people enjoyed safer, cleaner and smarter journeys to work, school and for leisure, and more than a million car trips a year were no longer made.

Sustrans celebrates 40 years this year. Its anniversary, and history – so inextricably woven into the history of cycling in the UK – reminds me that enabling cycling to become an obvious and everyday, easy choice for people is still too often hindered by one-sided, short-sighted policies.  

Cyclebag 

When in 1977 a group called Cyclebag was formed in Bristol to respond to the growing dominance of cars on the UK’s streets, the environmental impacts of motor vehicle emissions had already been felt whilst the world had been grappling with the rocketing of oil prices in the Middle East.  

The car’s dominance was the aftermath of policies that had over 20 years facilitated the development of motorised traffic across the UK (and had led to the savage Beeching cuts which decimated Britain’s national railway and many rail routes).

Cyclebag responded with a practical solution. It transformed one of the decommissioned rail routes, Bristol to Bath, into a 13-mile traffic-free bike path, showing what could be done to give some positive life back to these routes that were judged as uneconomic. 

The first section of the Bristol to Bath opened to cyclists and walkers in 1979. It was an instant success providing an integral commuting route, an attractive leisure path and an important wildlife corridor.

It inspired the formation of similar routes across the UK, mainly using disused railways and canal towpaths; and preceded the Cycle Tracks Act of 1984 which empowered local authorities to ‘convert sections of footpath to shared cycle and pedestrian use’.

A new lease of life

As Cyclebag became Sustrans and these new routes were taken forward, a new lease of life was given to the UK’s fledgling cycle infrastructure – all in the midst of ‘the great car economy’ promise that led to Britain being called ‘alongside Belgium as the worst nation’ for cycling, according to a survey by European Commission in 1989.

Fast forward to 2017 and we now have a National Cycle Network that includes 14,000 miles of route, and passes within one mile of half of all UK homes. Of this network, around one third is traffic free.

Cycling has now made its way into wider popular culture. It is now more acceptable, even fashionable to cycle and cycling is used to sell all manner of products, from fashion to forward thinking developments. In some parts of the UK, most obviously Central London, cycling is starting to become mainstream, with cycle flows on sections of London’s Cycle Superhighways representing up to 70% of total traffic, and carrying the equivalent of one fifth of the Tube network.

However, it is in creating liveable neighbourhoods that the role of cycling and walking has the potential to have the most dramatic of impacts. In 2015, Barking and Dagenham council commissioned Sustrans to bring life (literally) to one of its housing estates, Marks Gate.

The challenges faced by the young, culturally diverse East London community ranged from poverty to high unemployment, and obesity and low activity levels. Add the car-dominated environment, and you get the picture. Gloom as it is, it fits into national statistics, according to which the borough of Barking and Dagenham is the local authority in England with the third highest inactivity levels and the 22^nd most deprived area in the UK.

By bringing people together and engaging them in street redesign, a team of engineers and bike officers helped residents build cycling and walking into their lives whilst transforming the area into a safer and more people-centred space.

The way forward

This bottom-up approach drives real change. Projects such as Marks Gate show that helping people move around (cycle and walk) can unlock the benefits that can come from a community that feels safe and empowered. 

Sustrans says we can fuel our own journeys. Indeed, most journeys in towns and cities can be cycled or walked. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating positive effects of investment in local roads and in cycling and walking infrastructure. Governments locally and nationally have a better understanding of the benefits of active travel yet investment to provide viable solutions is often absent.

Current plans up to 2020 see more than £1.1 million per mile being invested in maintaining national roads, (just 3% of all roads) yet to maintain local roads that make up 97% of England’s road network, there is only £27,000 per mile investment available.

The new Government ( and Governments to follow )  must build on the intelligence we have and take it to the next level – bring it to life; and urban planners must ensure new developments have walking and cycling at their core for everyone, everywhere – to unpick, unlock and heal inequalities. 

Let’s not take the good work already being done back 40 years!  

• Cycling
• Health
• Lifestyle
• Liveable cities

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Poorer students’ subject choices may be putting them at a disadvantage, study finds

Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may be held back by their A-level subject choices when applying for prestigious courses such as law at leading universities, new findings suggest.

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Barriers and solutions to investing in employee health and wellbeing

We all know that the most valuable asset of any organisation is the employees, and that happy and healthy employees are productive employees.  But also, and perhaps most importantly, unhealthy, stressed and unproductive workers can cost you a lot of money.

Inactive lifestyles, sedentary work and stressful working environments are making UK workers some of the most miserable in the developed countries. Research shows we take an average of 6.6 sick days a year, and that cost our employers £29bn in each year. So why aren’t we all investing in our employees?

There are a few common barriers that stop organisations effectively investing time and money in their employees’ health and wellbeing.

Barrier 1: Lack of knowledge

Promoting active and healthy lifestyles isn’t easy. It’s not just about handing out leaflets with some hot tips.

We humans are creatures of habit, we like routine and having the right facilities or a Cycle to Work scheme isn’t enough.

It is important to to empower people to make better choices, help them change their behaviour and break their habits.

Solution: Let the experts do their job

Empower your own employees by introducing a workplace champion scheme.

You may already have proactive people in your organisation so utilise those skills and character traits!

Active Travel Champion organisations are committed to increasing levels of walking and cycling at their organisation. Sustrans work with sites of 200 or more employees, where Champions are permitted to use 1-2 hours of staff time per month on ATC related planning and activities.

Barrier 2: It’s nobody’s responsibility

Provision and promotion of health and wellbeing is rarely included in anyone’s job description, causing lack of ownership and dooming any campaign or project to fail.

A typical example, taken from our real life experience: “Organisation A” with just over 200 employees has a very small and busy HR team.

When staff expressed a desire to have the Cycle to Work scheme it took the HR team over two years to put it in place, and then the uptake wasn’t great, even though there was plenty of cycle parking and shower facilities on the site.

Those who wanted the scheme in the first place got their bikes, while others weren’t even aware of the scheme.

What was the problem? Lack of ownership meant it was just another task the HR team had to squeeze into their busy schedule, and no one in the team had the responsibility for it, so they didn’t prioritise its success.

Solution: Make it part of someone’s job

Give the responsibility to someone in your organisation. Make sure the person is happy to take the new task on, allocate them enough time and resources.

Our Active Travel Champion’s programme provides people with the right set of skills, knowledge and experience to promote walking and cycling within their organisation.

We will work with your organisation to identify your needs and offer engagement that works for you and your employees.

Barrier 3: Funding scarcity

We understand that for many organisations, it is still important to be very careful about what they spend their money on. Often there are very little disposable funds available.

Solution: Work with other organisations

Our Active Travel Champions programme is fully funded through Transport Scotland and is free for all organisations employing more than 200 staff in Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Additionally, participating would be able to access a small grant fund which can help to provide facilities, resources, events and training all aimed at encouraging staff to walk and cycle for their journeys to and from work.

How Sustrans can help

At Sustrans we have the know-how, the tried and tested behaviour change methodology that really makes a difference, as well as the enthusiasm and experience.

We work with a range of organisations and frequently share in success stories.

To develop a healthier, more productive workforce through our Active Travel Champions programme apply now.

Applications close on 12 September 2017.

• Commuting
• Health
• Workplaces

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Air pollution: We have a duty to the next generation

Walking and cycling, particularly for short journeys in towns and cities, helps keep our air clean

It can be hard to get our heads around the air we breathe when it’s something we can’t see. For Chris Bennett, our Head of Behaviour Change, it was the birth of his first daughter that brought home the everyday reality of the public health crisis facing the UK. Here’s his personal reflection on the publication of the UK Government’s Air Quality Plan. 

Over the last couple of months the air pollution crisis facing the UK and the challenges to address them have been made very real to me.

At the end of May, my wonderful daughter Adeline was born. She was nine weeks early and had two collapsed lungs. Sitting in St Michael’s Hospital overlooking Bristol with a haze of air pollution sprawling across the city, I struggled to come to terms with the reality of bringing up my very vulnerable daughter in the middle of a city with illegal levels of air pollution.

Since then I have become more committed to reducing my contribution to air pollution. So when I was required to travel from Bristol to rural Sussex recently I decided to hire an electric car from one of the city’s car clubs.

This 200-mile round trip made something very clear to me: significant progress will need to be made before the electric car revolution is here; Along the way I had to stop three times to charge the battery, getting to grips with different accounts and apps each time, with many of the charging points being incompatible with the car. Some charge points were lower voltage with a charge time of more than three hours for 70 miles of driving. 

On the same journey I was stuck in heavy town centre traffic, or as the saying goes, “I wasn’t in a jam, I was the jam”. 

In addition to issues around congestion, a shift to electric cars does not address the problem of particulate matter, caused by tyre and brake wear, of which there are no healthy levels. Nor will it address public health issues around obesity and low levels of physical activity, not to mention the economic benefits associated with other alternatives such as walking and cycling.

The recent publication of the UK Government’s Air Quality Plan is, on the surface, a positive step, but as ever the devil is in the detail.

Nearly two weeks on and what remains clear is that we need to take action immediately, not wait until 2040. By this time, my daughter will be 23 years old and millions of other children will have been born into environments which are unsafe. I’m in no doubt that more urgent action is needed and that electric cars are not a magic bullet.

Recent news stories, such as removing speed bumps or implementing motorway canopies, highlight the government’s desire to address air pollution without challenging or addressing a transport system which is reliant on cars. Instead, there should be a focus on making it easier for people to walk and cycle for short journeys.

The report into the Cycling City and Towns Programme which evaluated the impact of infrastructure on cycling levels in 18 cities, has proven that well planned, long-term investment is effective in shifting journeys from cars to walking and cycling. All that is required is the political will and funding to make it happen.

To help us clean our air now, before it’s too late for the next generation, we need to see a seismic shift towards other modes of transport, such as walking and cycling, particularly for short journeys in towns and cities.

What this means on the ground is significant investment and ambition on a national and local level to shift everyday journeys to walking, cycling and public transport, and the implementation of Clean Air Zones in cities across the UK with the powers to make a real difference.

Find out why the UK Government’s Air Quality Plan shows lack of leadership

• Air Quality
• Cycling
• Health
• Policy
• Walking

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9 out of 10 children don't get enough exercise

Sustrans Scotland’s I Bike project works in schools across Scotland to help young people to cycle

With almost 9 out 10 of children not meeting physical activity guidelines, making cycling safer and more accessible to young people, would help to increase regular exercise.

The recent Scottish Government statistics on children’s physical activity are another reminder that people don’t get enough regular exercise, and children are no exception.

Only 11% of children surveyed by Growing Up in Scotland met the recommended 60 minutes of activity every day.

Meanwhile, the latest Hands Up Scotland Survey shows that less than half of children travel actively to school, and only 3.6% cycle to school. These regular journeys are key in helping more children to live physically active, healthier lives.

Exercise should be part of a daily routine

Increasing the number of pupils cycling to school would provide children with the moderate intensity of exercise required every day.

Walking or cycling to school is an easy way to get regular exercise, and even if it doesn’t meet the 60 minute daily target, it would have a major impact and help some to meet the goal.

There are also co-benefits through the reduction in air pollution, less congestion around schools and children are more attentive in class and get better grades.

To get more children on their bikes, two things are needed. The first is behavioural – encouraging more young people to cycle and helping them to overcome personal barriers.

“ In I Bike schools 11% of pupils report ‘regularly’ cycling to school, compared to the 3.6% average. ”

Shift to active travel

Sustrans Scotland’s I Bike project works in schools across Scotland to help young people to cycle, and has been successful in increasing regular cycling.

In I Bike schools 11% of pupils report ‘regularly’ cycling, compared to the 3.6% average.

The study also found that on average boys were doing 10 minutes more physical activity than girls every day.

I Bike seeks to bridge the gender gap that sees far fewer girls than boys cycling to school, because cycling should be something that everyone can do.

Safer routes to school

But the second thing that an increase in cycling to school requires is safer routes, which would make more people feel able to cycle.

One thing that Sustrans Scotland know would make a big difference to people feeling safer on a bike is slower traffic speeds. And right now you can have your say on a consultation into making 20mph speed limits in residential areas the default.

We also need more funding for local authorities to deliver safe cycling routes, segregated from traffic where needed, to give people confidence and make cycling the easy choice.

When cycling is an easy choice for everyone to make their regular, day-to-day journeys we will see many more children living active, healthier lives.

Have your say on the 20mph speed limits in residential areas consultation

• Air Quality
• Commuting
• Cycling
• Environment
• Health
• Schools
• Young people

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UK Government’s Air Quality Plan shows lack of leadership

There is still some hope for cycling and walking as part of the solution to our air quality crisis but local authorities will need to lead.

Rachel White, our Senior Policy and Political Advisor, reflects on the publication of the UK Government’s Air Quality Plan. 

Too little, too late

If you have been following the protracted unfolding of the UK Government’s Air Quality Plan for tackling nitrogen dioxide - the final version was published on Wednesday 26 July - you can be forgiven for being somewhat exasperated at this point.

Last week’s headlines were dominated by the Government’s plans to ban all conventional car and van sales by 2040 - this was perplexing given the Government first announced this intention in 2011. Deliberate vagueness around what a “conventional vehicle” is may well come in useful in future years and the bottom line: it’s 23 years away. It’s hard to see how this is going to help us reduce our air pollution in the “quickest time possible”.

The plan itself appears to be a plan for lots of other plans, seemingly ignoring the urgency and speed of action needed to address the fact that 40,000 people are dying prematurely in the UK every year from this public health crisis – that’s nearly a million (920,000) premature deaths over 23 years. Road transport is responsible for 80% of NO_X where legal limits are being broken with the majority of that pollution from diesel.

The obvious solution

Shifting as many short journeys as possible to walking and cycling while investing in public transport and electric vehicles for longer trips, is the obvious solution, but the UK Government is reluctant to lead. The private car is so engrained in our way of life the Government is scared to challenge the perceived wisdom that car is king and that more roads will lead to more growth. In reality, building more roads leads to more congestion which increases air pollution. Despite this, the Government is investing in its biggest road building programme since the 1970s.

While the Government’s own technical report shows that charging Clean Air Zones (CAZ) for the most polluting vehicles are the best way to reduce air pollution in the shortest time possible, the plan encourages local authorities to look into other means of meeting air quality targets first and to avoid this measure wherever possible. Furthermore, revenue from CAZs could be spent on improving public transport and cycling and walking infrastructure.

The “tense” problem

A lack of leadership permeates the entire plan. It states: “we also recognise the need for strong national leadership. We will set a clear national framework for the steps that local authorities need to take.”

Here lies the crux of the issue: “we will”. Rather than providing local authorities with the framework and funding they need to take action on air quality now, there are promises of a future framework.

The plan also promises a number of other plans for the future:

• A wider UK Clean Air Strategy to be published in 2018. In our response to the draft plan we criticised the Government for only tackling nitrogen dioxide in a myopic way in this plan. By omitting particulate matter - of which there are no healthy levels - the Government risks causing adverse effects later, in the same way the promotion of diesel vehicles since the 80s to tackle climate change has increased air pollution. Particulate matter, caused by tyre and brake wear, will not be tackled by a shift to electric vehicles.
• A future consultation on a possible scrappage scheme and tackling the other adverse effects of air quality policy.
• A future Clean Air Fund in England, which will allow local authorities to bid for additional money to support the implementation of measures to improve air quality. This fund could support more sustainable methods of transport such as cycling, but until the Government announces the size of the fund, it is difficult to know what sort of impact this will have.

Shifting responsibility to local authorities

The plan not only shows a lack of leadership and urgency, it also shifts responsibility onto local authorities. While local authorities are best placed to make local decisions, this is a UK-wide issue which requires leadership, investment and action from the top.

In England, 29 local authorities are identified as needing to produce draft air quality plans by March 2018, with final plans due by December 2018. There is a £255 million implementation fund to support local authorities to prepare their plans and to deliver targeted action to improve air quality, with £40 million made available immediately for local authorities to take action. A lack of a framework and indication from UK Government on the size of the Clean Air Fund, however, makes it hard for local authorities to commit to large projects when their budgets are already stretched.

Hope at the local level

There is still hope for more liveable, healthy towns and cities in the future; ones with great air quality, physically active communities and vibrant economies. If the Clean Air Fund is sufficiently large then it will offer local authorities in England a real chance to invest in measures to tackle air pollution including projects aimed at boosting cycling and walking.

This is an opportunity for joined-up and properly funded Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans to give people the infrastructure they need to make cycling and walking a real alternative to the car for short journeys in England and tackle physical inactivity and obesity at the same time. Scotland and Wales are also looking at their own versions of clean or low emission zones and Northern Ireland will devise its own ‘Air Quality Action Plan’.

The leadership in England will need to come from the new Metro Mayors and local authorities. They will need to decide what type of towns and cities they want their communities to live in - ones which will improve their health and wellbeing rather than slowly choke them. 

• Air Quality
• Cycling
• Leadership
• Walking

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8239590 https://www.sustrans.org.uk/blog/uk-government%E2%80%99s-air-quality-plan-shows-lack-leadership
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New cycling and walking commissioner needs funding to get more people active

We need a network of safe, dedicated cycle routes supported by off-road paths and quiet streets

Last week, we joined celebrations for the appointment of Chris Boardman as cycling and walking commissioner for Greater Manchester. The appointment of ‘cycling tsar’ Chris Boardman is exciting news, provided he comes with a long-term budget.

Manchester is well-known for its Olympic gold medal factory at the Velodrome, but as Chris has regularly pointed out, everyday cycling is still largely a fringe activity. And the city region certainly needs to change that. The Greater Manchester Health Plan identified that just under a quarter of adults in the region do very little or no exercise. We are the UK’s third most congested city (after London and Belfast), and have breached the UK’s legal limits for nitrogen dioxide every year since 2011.

The city region’s 2015 Bike Life report on attitudes to cycling, clearly demonstrated that people want to see more travel by bike in their area, with three quarters of respondents supporting more investment, at an average of £26 per head. Improving safety was key, with more money spent on cycle infrastructure such as lanes separated from traffic.

Certainly, in the last couple of years there have been some exciting changes for cycling in Greater Manchester. Thanks to funding from the Cycle City Ambition Grant the new Oxford Road cycleway, a ‘Dutch-style’ segregated route to the university area, is now bustling with bikes, while other cycle routes are appearing around the region.

But this funding is set to dry up soon. While the new cycle routes are fantastic, they are only likely to convert the people who live or work close by. One great route shouldn’t be an exception. We need to replicate what has happened on Oxford Road across the whole of Greater Manchester, creating a network of safe, dedicated cycle routes supported by off-road paths and quiet streets. It’s what the people of Greater Manchester tell us they want.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, recently pledged to spend £17 a head on cycling in the city region, matching the figure proposed in London. In a time of tight budgets, Chris Boardman can help ensure the city keeps this promise, and spend in the right places.

As we have seen in London and Bristol, more safe routes forming a network between homes, public transport hubs, workplaces and schools will inevitably help more people get on their bikes.

Find out more about the 2017 Bike Life reports.

• Bike Life
• Cycling
• Economy
• Leadership
• Liveable cities
• Policy

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Baby boomers show deep divisions on the way to retirement

Substantial numbers of baby boomers, especially lower and middle earners, are expecting to work past state pension age, while those who have experienced the most financial hardship throughout their lives are approaching retirement in poorer health and are the most likely to report that they are unable to afford to save. 

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8239590 http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/shared/object-link.ashx?objectid=4633&objectType=news&objectTitle=Baby%2bboomers%2bshow%2bdeep%2bdivisions%2bon%2bthe%2bway%2bto%2bretirement&params=57574321b47fd7c68c8cc3406b735d8a8cb3b623ee04c357f1
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Cycling the quiet way

How do you bicycle to work and home again? Do you fight through the traffic? Or have you discovered a quiet way to the office, school, shops, pub, restaurants and back home again?

I returned to London in June after an absence of fourteen years to find that it had become a more vibrant version of itself. When I lived in London from 1998 to 2003 as an investment banker, I lived on Shaftesbury Avenue.

I left for Sydney when the Mayor Ken Livingston had just introduced congestion charges. Why did I leave? Love. I had met my now-husband at a party in Farringdon in August 2002.

In the midst of the heat wave last month, I stayed with a friend and her family in North London. Chris, a Sustrans Volunteer, and his girlfriend were kind enough to take me around London that first Saturday. Bicycling together along the Quietway from Finsbury Park to Clerkenwell, Hyde Park, Westminster and getting cut off by youngsters in flash cars on Pall Mall suddenly reminded me of Sydney. And that’s when I realised I could cycle in London.

At first, I mostly relied upon Google Maps to commute to my meetings in Central London. Having traveled along Liverpool Road while breathing in bus fumes, I eventually found my own way via Finsbury Park Road, along Drayton Park, to Barnsbury Road and Penton Street. Later I would use Margery Street to make my way further west to the centre.

After about five days, I had a quiet route mapped out with variations as necessary. Chris introduced me to Rox who works at Sustrans in London, and when she suggested taking me for a ride on Quietway 1 from Waterloo to Greenwich, I was game.

I felt nostalgic going past Smithfield Market after departing from the office on Cowcross Street. It was one of the first places where I had played tennis upon landing in London in 1998.

Making our way across the Blackfriars Bridge, I rode through the barricades installed just a few weeks prior. 

Eventually, we made our way to Q1 which was noticeable because of the lack of traffic noise.

Rox explained to me that Q1 was chosen because it provided a direct and quiet alternative to a busy main road.

However, one of the first turns left onto Q1 from Blackfriars Road was not for the faint-of-heart.

At Waterloo, this left turn was in two stages. When the light turned green, cyclists needed to wait in the left turn box in the middle of the road.

It reminded me of the necessity for hook turns in Melbourne’s wide streets. My preference at this intersection would have been to continue on the green light to the far right hand corner of the intersection.

Waiting at the red light, with wheels now pointing in the direction of Q1, I would have been a little more comfortable. Kids and less experienced bicyclists would be too.

And after this, the way was indeed quiet. I enjoyed the cool air of today versus the 32C of yesterday and Rox and I chatted because it was possible to have a conversation while riding side-by-side on many parts of Q1.

She explained how Q1 was the first pilot of this new type of route, designed to encourage more people to cycle, more safely, more often. She pointed out parts of Q1 which had been heavily engineered and less so. And then we came upon the gates at The Borough on Trinity Square. 

Residents here had been adamant about keeping the barriers in place to prevent motorcyclists from coming through, she explained. These barriers have been widened, but I could see that it was also an impediment for people with children on cargo bikes or in trailers. One way around it would be to mount the footpath but I have also heard of people’s frustration with this barrier via social media.

We continued and Rox explained the consultative process that Sustrans took to engage the community to create Q1. The positive and most successful means of installing bicycle and walking infrastructure for people is often developing a trial of new infrastructure, after a lengthy process of discussion which involves several alternatives from which people can choose. 

I have heard of this approach being used successfully in San Francisco and many other US cities. It is difficult to appease everyone and to be truly inclusive.

However, a trial enables people to use infrastructure and see it in action.

Later along South Bermondsey, Rox pointed out a brand new covered cycleway at Ilderton Road with a rest stop and parking close to South Bermondsey train station.

We continued alongside Bolina Road on a completely separated cycleway that was newly constructed. This was an excellent way to avoid the heavy traffic on this road later during rush hour.

This area was heavily industrialized but on the fringe were flats and houses. No doubt this area would continue to transition with the popularity of brownfield development as popularized in Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Steven Fleming, an expert on the built-environment and bicycle-oriented architecture, has written extensively about this type of development which often is without transport links.

The bicycle has been instrumental to the success of such areas around the world.

We passed through beautiful Folkstone Gardens where I saw Weeping Willow trees.

They were a reminder of my youth in Minnesota and the lushness of England. 

Australia is a parched land and very few of these willows are native. They too have immigrated to foreign lands.

Approaching Greenwich via Tarves Way, I found the cars parked on the kerb to be anachronistic. Cars didn’t seem to fit with the architecture of the terrace houses lining the road. 

Rox and I were both hungry after such a great ride to Greenwich and we stopped at a local market for a snack.

We took a quick photo of Canary Wharf where I spent most of my time in my late twenties working in investment banking. 

It had been a struggle commuting to the office back then. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) was a long and slow commute from Bank. The Jubilee Line was under construction and constantly delayed when it commenced operations. The ferry from the Embankment was wonderful but one needed to be on time to catch it. There was no ability to run to it after it had left the dock.  Why didn’t I cycle back then? Having come from the US, my excuse was that I didn’t know how I would react in a crisis traffic situation. How silly (and lazy) I was!

After a restorative snack, Rox and I rode back to Sustrans and I saw Q1 in action. Packs of bicyclists in mostly athletic wear went past us in the other direction.

Closing thoughts

I believe that the effect of a cycleway, such as a Quietway 1, serves to grow cycling in conjunction with the separated cycleways in London. People begin to realise its effectiveness by using it more often.

Drivers begin to realise that bicyclists are present and begin to alter their driving habits by avoiding it or driving more attentively. And children begin to see their parents use the bicycle as a form a transport which normalises its use.

No doubt the lessons learned from Q1 will be put to good use for the next series of Quietways in London and beyond.

My hope is for more people to use the Quietways dressed for their destinations. We saw 50/50 women to men on Q1 during peak hour. I saw two women in a dress or skirt. I look forward to seeing more next time.

In the meantime, happy riding on your own Quietways! I’ll be doing the same in Sydney.

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