{"id":260,"date":"2024-03-08T12:02:48","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T12:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/?p=260"},"modified":"2024-07-18T08:09:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T08:09:52","slug":"councillors-drop-plans-to-tackle-through-traffic-in-connaught-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/08\/councillors-drop-plans-to-tackle-through-traffic-in-connaught-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillors drop plans to tackle through-traffic in Connaught Village"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Climate disappointment in Westminster after Councillors drop plans to tackle the traffic in Connaught Village in their reported \u00a31.4 million budget for new plans – despite having a majority support from residents to go ahead \u2026<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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We have been speaking to residents around Connaught Village and have got some disheartening news about the how the Council decided to water down its proposal for the area when it comes to the through-traffic. Some might call it a scandal, you can decide for yourselves. Last summer, the plans for Connaught Village DID involve some traffic reduction (one lane on one street- it\u2019s not a lot- but its something!), and the council had a majority support in the consultation, BUT after some people shouted in a meeting, Councillors sent an email to residents saying that \u201cas a result of the very strong views expressed\u201d, they\u2019d look at \u201cmaintaining the two-way traffic on Kendal Street\u201d. OOOFFFF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, between March and April 2023, the council consulted on some NEW PLANS for Connaught Village. The ideas were quite similar to the more recent ones, apart from one crucial difference. Then, they proposed reducing the traffic on Kendal Street to ONE WAY traffic. It would mean there would be lots of pavement space for this beautiful design below. Doesn\u2019t it look delightful! It\u2019s not quite a piazza, but it\u2019s certainly a start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the difference with now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During the consultation, there were many positive comments from residents. \u201cI love the shops and restaurants in this area, and fully support measures to make it a more beautiful and accessible space for pedestrians\u201d said one. \u201cI already love the outdoor dining options and recent pedestrian-focused street festivals, and I will continue to support initiatives that make this area greener and pedestrian focused\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a much-needed development that will give the Village a central space for the benefit of residents and visitors. It will be an asset 365, 24\/7\u201d said another. (It\u2019s almost as if people would also be behind a piazza, but don\u2019t get us started on that).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe one way on Kendal street was just a start, we thought, and was meant to be the foot in the door for further traffic flow changes, like a domino effect\u201d, one resident tells us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see the council\u2019s plans here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the consultation was finished, 188 people had supported the plans, and 139 people opposed them<\/a>. So approximately 35% more respondents supported the scheme than opposed it. (And we all know that taking traffic off high-streets becomes popular over time). Here\u2019s Connaught Street yesterday- would you want to come and shop here when it\u2019s like this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201dA lot of the folks at this meeting just want Connaught Village to be a road\u201d says one local who went \u2026 \u201csome appeared to be non- locals who just wanted to still drive through the area\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After the meeting, Councillors sent an email to local residents. \u201cGenerally, the project has been very well received\u201d they said. \u201cHowever, a large number of residents raised concerns about the traffic impacts from the proposed one-way working on Kendal Street. We held a drop-in session \u2026. As a result of the very strong views expressed, we have asked the Highways Team (to maintain) two-way traffic along Kendal Street\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We understand that many residents were devastated receiving this email \u2026 https:\/\/www.westminsterlabour.org.uk\/ward-news\/2023\/09\/18\/hyde-park-ward-labour-action-report-mid-september-2023\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So despite having a majority support for this scheme, because some people got angry in a meeting, Councillors have backed down from tackling the traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here at Freshminster, we don\u2019t think that\u2019s good enough. We need Councillors who will show some strength and go ahead with reducing the traffic in Connaught Village, given there\u2019s clearly lots of support for it. Especially when there\u2019s \u00a31.4 million on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one local told us, \u201cthis is a once- in a generation opportunity, and (wincing) we don\u2019t need another version of The Mound in Westminster\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We do hope that local Councillors will come to their senses and release new plans soon- plans that deal with the traffic, and include space for people. These are the changes that Connaught Village needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Climate disappointment in Westminster after Councillors drop plans to tackle the traffic in Connaught Village in their reported \u00a31.4 million budget for new plans – despite having a majority support from residents to go ahead \u2026 We have been speaking to residents around Connaught Village and have got some disheartening news about the how the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":380,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions\/380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}