| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply | |
| Posted by: | Paul Campbell | |
| Date/Time: | 18/06/21 12:22:00 |
| No. I don't think that advocating for cycle lanes on main roads or for putting in restrictions on residential roads that are blighted by a seriously high volumes of traffic that they weren't built to cope with is extremist. I don't think that some residents having to drive a different route that takes a few mins longer so that more streets are made safe and quiet is extreme. I don't think that advocating for Devonshire Road to remain a no-through road for traffic is extreme. I genuinely believe that slight inconvenience and a safer and more pleasant environment will encourage more people to walk and cycle on short local journeys. I used to use my car regularly for shopping trips to the High Road and to take the kids places locally and I have entirely eliminated that use of it over the last few years. We have adpated, bought a suitable utility bike for every day errands, and the benefits of doing this have been great for us as a family. Plus it is one less car getting in the way of everybody else. What is happening in the City is much more extreme than anything I have campaigned for or advocated for locally in Chiswick. Every one way street has a contraflow cycle lane for example. Major throughfares have been made one way with the remaining half of the road dedicated to walking and cycling. Junctions have been filled in and turned into paizzas. I honestly do know people who have been influential in decision-making and driving those street changes and they are sober experienced successful business leaders and realists who have formed firm judgments on how beneficial traffic restrictions will be to the City. I agree with them and the results of everything they have done so far has justified their intentions. Whenever cars are removed from an area more businesses come in and footfall increases. It is a simple RoI calculation for them. Most serious politicians agree with all of this including the national government, the Mayor and our local authorities. And of course most senior politicians agree with it in other large economies such as France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the US (now under Biden) leaving aside the Nordics and the Netherlands that are way ahead of all of us on this and many other things. It is so obviously progressive that it transcends politics with leaders of all stripes supporting and driving it. I think my views are mainstream and popular and every poll conducted so far supports that. Also I don't support every aspect of every scheme that is implemented. I choose a different way of providing fedback to decision-makers that is supportive and constructive and consistently yields far-better results than the confrontational approach that our local Conservatives have adopted and become trapped in. The approach the OC is taking has been doomed from the start as should have been obvious after the collapse of the ReDesign CS9 campaign. People have to accept that change is necessary and that it will happen if they want to be part of the mainstream movement and influence the outcomes. |