The results of Lewisham council’s sustainable streets survey in four areas (Deptford Central, Deptford South, Elverson and Ladywell) showed most respondents in Ladywell were satisfied with current parking restrictions.
The aim of the consultation was to review existing parking controls to understand if the operation times needed to change
There was also the opportunity for respondents to give feedback on what sustainable measures (cycle storage hubs, EV charging points, street trees, safer crossing points etc) people would like to see on their street to encourage active travel and public transport.
The survey showed there was a preference for current times of parking operation hours to remain in place, with 128 of respondents agreeing current timings work well, while 115 said they need to be changed.
The council summary of the findings says: “After analysing the responses to subsequent questions, it can be inferred respondents who wanted times to change, wanted the hours to be reduced.”
Most respondents in Ladywell did not want hours extended on weekdays or to see permit parking introduced on weekends, it adds. .
Other findings from the consultation are:
- Concern over inconsiderate parking and pavement parking on Algernon Road, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk on the footpath and cross the road.
- There was a high number of requests for more street trees and greening,
- There was a clear demand for EV chargepoints and cycle storage across the area in general.
Some respondents were strongly in favour of measures on certain roads, including:
Algernon Road: Street trees and greening, EV chargepoints
Algiers Road: Cycle storage hubs, street trees and greening, EV chargepoint
Embleton Road: Cycle storage hubs
Malyons Road: Cycle storage hubs
Veda Road: Cycle storage hubs
Vicars Hill: Street trees and greening.
Respondents said speeding was an issue that could be solved by introducing traffic calming measures
Council extends deadline and amends sustainable streets consulation after residents raise concerns
Cllr Louise Krupski has apologised for any confusion caused by the sustainable streets’ consultation format after ward councillors raised residents’ concerns.
“We have recognised that the way it was originally presented meant that some residents did not manage to feedback fully on how they would like to see their streets improved.
“This has now been rectified and the consultation extended …”, said Cllr Krupski, the Lewisham cabinet lead for the environment and climate action.
A detailed list of actions taken or about to be taken is below.
- Updates have been made to simplify the interactive map page to reduce the likelihood people think they have completed the process.
- The Commonplace pages have been updated to reflect new end date of January 14 2024.
- From next week, stickers will be placed on existing lamppost wraps which say ‘Have your say by Sunday January 14 2024’
- A message was sent via the Commonplace site on 27/11/23 to those who had ‘opted in’ to be contacted – a majority of people opted not to receive updates. It read:
Thanks for filling in the survey about permit parking in Ladywell. Did you leave feedback on the interactive map? As part of the Sustainable Streets project, we also want to know what other measures you would like to see in Ladywell, including different types of parking, car club or cycle-share bays, cycle storage hubs, street trees and planting, EV charging points and safer crossing points. Use the link below to share the location where you would like to see these measures.
- Groups of door-knockers will be on site over the coming fortnight to advise of the consultation, with the printed postcard being used (with updated end date).
- Community groups and businesses will be emailed on Monday with general reminder messaging, and to let them know the consultation will close on Sunday January 14. This will be sent to all areas. This is the same list of contacts who were invited to a briefing on 9/11/2023, followed up via phone W/C 15/11/23, and notified via email of the launch of the consultation on 20/11/23.
Ladywell Ward Councillors Laura, Bill and Liz say if residents “want to write to us separately as part of the consultation that is fine.”
Residents can contact Cllr Louise Krupski directly before January 14 and she will pass on their comments to officers. Comments need to be kept to matters directly related to the highway, parking, cycle parking, car clubs, EV provision and greening.
Sustainable streets for Ladywell? C’mon Lewisham is this really a consultation?
As a Lewisham resident you’d be hard pushed not to have noticed the ‘sustainable streets’ campaign currently being ‘staged’ by Lewisham Council and Commonplace, writes Jean Branchuk.
Posterboards strapped onto lampposts – lots of lampposts – a leafleting campaign through doors – big money has clearly been spent by our ‘cash strapped’ borough – and to what purpose?
Sustainable Streets – lovely – I’m sure we all like the sound of that. But ‘Share your views on current parking and suggest ideas for new sustainable measures on your street’ – is that really true?
Well – just do the consultation and you will find it is a cynical and limited questionnaire which only appears to want very controlled and limited answers to whether you would like your CPZ zone times extended.
Try and access anything else and it just brought me back to CPZ issues.
When I contacted Lewisham they responded saying that I should be able to contribute more by clicking through the survey. But as stated earlier – this didn’t work for me.
What a missed opportunitiy. Many of us want to contribute with ideas about sustainable streets, street trees, electric vehicle charging, bicycle storage, traffic flows through our areas, etc.
But this doesn’t feel like this consultation wants to hear about that. Making the consultation so difficult to navigate will sadly make people less inclined to persevere in contributing ideas to the consultation.
It is a shame that Lewisham has clearly spent so much money on a consultation that doesn’t really seem to want people to be properly consulted about important issues many of us are concerned about.