• ON November 28 I participated in an enlightening “Central London Walking Network” seminar. Hearteningly it was standing room only with about 100 very constructive attendees from a very broad spread of interests.

At the afternoon’s core were presentations by cabinet councillors responsible for walking (and cycling) from three boroughs: Camden Council’s own, Adam Harrison, Tim Mitchell of Westminster and Oliver Sells from the City of London.

Overall, Camden was very well represented and our residents made positive contributions.

However, I would use the term speech, and not a presentation, from Tim Mitchell for Westminster City Council, who showed an astonishing indifference to the audience by not showing a single slide or photograph.

His self-confessed top priority is “to keep traffic moving”, with seeming scant regard for his overcrowded pavements.

Westminster is our intellectually poor neighbour on planning infrastructure, with what can only be described as timid aspirations.

When asked why the proposal for a pedestrian bridge across the Thames at Battersea has made no progress, we were told of the resistance from Pimlico residents.

That would no doubt be the same lot who rejected the idea of a Crossrail 2 station in their beloved Chelsea.

Tim Mitchell was knocked into the shade by the bold, creative “can-do” attitude of Oliver Sells from the City of London, where they have dared to ban vehicle traffic (except buses) through the ultra-busy nine-way intersection outside the Bank of England. And it’s working!

They’re experimenting not only with stopping traffic outside schools at drop-off and pick-up times (as is being trialled by Camden) but also with closing some streets to traffic at lunchtimes, to the joy of workers and pedestrians.

The point that Oliver Sells made that most impressed me was the concept that small, inexpensive, interventions are the way forward and that hugely expensive “grand projets” are over-engineered and political-legacy trophy schemes.

Marylebone High Street and the West End Project sprang immediately to my mind. I can’t be alone in thinking that Tottenham Court Road is not working.

Maybe, months from now, when vehicles are rerouted north-bound up Gower Street, things will begin to make sense; but currently, for most of the day, Tottenham Court Road is a nightmare for bus passengers and more particularly for cyclists.

In conclusion, shame on Westminster, Camden could do better and the City of London is a shining light, leading the way with inexpensive and imaginative schemes to improve pedestrians’ lives.

PAUL BRAITHWAITE
NW5