Details
This proposal reflects the principles encapsulated within recent Government publications including the Network Management Duty Guidance and Streetspace for London i.e. the reallocation of public space to support social distancing and the creation of a more attractive and safer environment for walking and cycling.
Parkleys (the road) runs east from Ham Parade (A307) to become Ham Farm Road which in turn exits back onto the A307. Currently, it also exits into Barnfield Avenue in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames. Barnfield Avenue is a semi-circular residential road accessing Tudor Drive. Parkleys lies in a conservation area in Richmond and Barnfield Avenue adjoins the Tudor Estate a Local Area of Special Character in Kingston.
As a result of this road configuration the closure of Parkleys at the boundary between the two local authorities will have an impact on two communities: Parkleys in Richmond upon Thames and North Kingston in RB Kingston upon Thames. This petition is supported by residents in LB Richmond and a similar Petition will be made by residents of RB Kingston.
Our hyperlocal existence during the lockdown has made us acutely aware of the value of our local environment. With fewer cars it is calmer, safer, less polluted and able to accommodate changes in the way that we are using it: to exercise, play and walk locally, carrying out the now familiar side-step into the road as we to make space for each other to pass.
Prompted by the lockdown reduction in traffic and the positive effects this has had in this residential area, support for the proposal has become widespread amongst the Parkleys community (12 blocks comprising 169 individual flats) in recent weeks. The Management Company of Parkleys Residents Society has also endorsed the idea of the road closure and is submitting this petition. The proposal is in line with the Ham and Petersham Neighbourhood Plan and Richmond and Kingston local plan policies and we have liaised with the Richmond and Kingston Ward Councillors, North Kingston Neighbourhood Forum and Ham and Petersham Neighbourhood Forum.
Residents are all too familiar with the inappropriately high speeds which motorists can reach when trying to save time by avoiding the Ham Cross traffic lights and shortcutting through Parkleys and Barnfield Avenue. With lockdown incidents of ‘rat-running’ have declined (though not ceased). As the lockdown eases, and traffic volumes increase, this proposal would preserve the benefits that this reduced traffic has brought to these residential streets. Notwithstanding the weight restriction signage on Parkleys, unsuitable HGVs also used this ‘rat-run’ which again would be prevented by a road closure. Reduction of road danger and the prevention of rat-running is a one of the elements of the Streetspace for London ‘Low Traffic Neighbourhood’ initiative.
Historically it seems that the road between Parkleys and Barnfield Avenue was introduced for construction traffic in the 1950s when the development was being built; and was intended to be closed once the works were complete.
The closure of the road, in addition to all the benefits it brings, will inevitably impact adversely on some residents for whom the ‘cut through’ is an obvious route for Barnfield residents heading through to the A307 or Parkleys residents when heading towards Park Road and beyond. However these routes are still accessible to residents and those, who were asked, expressed a preference for a calmer, safer street all the time, rather than shaving a few minutes off their journey times.
Consideration has also been given to the use of the road by emergency vehicles. Local observation suggests that such vehicles rarely if ever use that road in either direction and indeed access to Parkleys from the A307 is the more direct and logical approach.
Recent government guidance empowers local authorities to take measures to ‘reallocate road space’ to enable social distance. It specifies the interventions available to local authorities. In both Richmond and Kingston one such intervention – adopting 20mph more widely – has been implemented now in Parkleys for which we are grateful. Combining this intervention with the proposed closure of access to Barnfield Avenue from Parkleys can only improve the position by reducing traffic and creating a more pleasant environment that encourages and enables safe walking and cycling while ensuring social distancing can be observed and thus improving safety.
This Petition seeks a temporary solution that could be adopted quite quickly at reasonable cost by the introduction of planters or other low-cost means. It is hoped and anticipated while in place the local authority will monitor and evaluate the closure with a view to endorsing a more permanent solution.
Started by: Douglas Reid (on behalf of Parkleys Residents Society)
This petition ran from 04/06/2020 to 04/09/2020.
Signatures
85 people have signed this petition.
