Agenda and draft minutes

1.  Welcome and introductions

Cllr Fajana-Thomas opened the meeting and said that it was an opportunity for residents to speak to Councillors and the Streetscene team about the Environmental Improvements planned in the Walford Road area-.

There would be a 20 minute presentation from the Head of Streetscene, which would set out the two options that had been put forward, and then a 45 minute question and answer session.

2.  Presentation on proposals

The Head of Streetscene gave a presentation on the Walford Road Area- Environmental Improvements.

He explained that following proposals developed for Cycle Superhighway 1 (CS1) consultations were carried out by TFL which included closures to through traffic at:

·  Wordsworth Road junction with Matthias Road

·  Wordsworth Road junction with Bennett Road junction

·  Salcome Road junction with Truman’s road.

It was agreed that the road closures would be implemented and monitored by the Council for a minimum of 6 months to assess the impact of the changes and to allow submission of representations from affected stakeholders.

The closures were implemented in 2016. In November 2017 the experimental traffic order was made permanent.

The main aims of that scheme had been to:

·  Reduce non-local motor traffic using residential streets

·  Make Wordsworth Road area a safer and more pleasant place in which to live, walk and cycle

Residents were shown a plan of the road closures and the impact of closures in the Wordsworth road area.

Residents were also shown a map showing the air quality monitoring and the wider policy context which included:

·  Nearly 10,000 Londoners died early every year as a result of air pollution from vehicle emissions  (Kings College London, 2015)

·  Direct impact on our children’s health with evidence proving air pollution to be directly responsible for alarming rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses in schools (GLA, 2008)

·  Two thirds of households in Hackney did not own a car, but the borough still suffered from poor air quality

·  The Council’s policy ambitions to:

o  Make Hackney’s roads safer for everyone living, working and visiting the borough

o  Create an environment that will encourage more walking and cycling, improve air quality and reduce local emissions

o  Reclaim Hackney’s streets from motor traffic congestion and transform them into the most attractive and liveable neighbourhoods in London

o  Reduce the dominance of the private vehicle

Monitoring of the impact of the changes delivered in the Wordsworth Road area had shown benefits in terms of traffic flow and air pollution. However, the changes had also caused increases in traffic in some roads due to dispersal.  The Council was currently consulting on proposals to mitigate these issues.

The two options put forward in the current consultation were:

Option A: Permanently closing Barbauld Road junction with Albion Road and at Allen Road junction with Shakespeare Walk

Option A would substantially reduce through traffic between Albion Road and the A10 and vice versa (including local traffic). Motor vehicles would be banned from entering or exiting Barbauld Road at its junction with Albion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.