Forum topic: Plans for Fox Lane low-traffic neighbourhood published

5. Out of interest, why do you "feel for" this person when there is no evidence that it is anything but abject laziness simply shirking a 10 minute walk? Given the traffic surveys presented highlighted that the primary concern, from the govt's point of view, is the large proportion of car journeys for walkable distances.

His reasoning may be disability, but it seems you've assumed what fits your rhetoric.

7. Cycle lanes were fully consulted upon, were they not? And that "vast opposition" mainly came from spurious surveys by failed MP David Burrowes. A Councillor that specifically ran on an anti-cycle lane mandate lost completely too. Which suggests the opposition, whilst visceral, isn't are widespread as some like to suggest. Bit like how the SOGL lot lost their Court case and got costs against them....

I am the son of a father who was involved in car design, and who came home with a car within two years of the 39/45 war. Previous only one person in the street was able to run car because he needed it for his business which the authorities thought essential to the war effort. Naturally my father's car caused a stir, and all my playmates clamoured for a ride............but not me. I didn't understand what the fuss was about, and I still don't.

Nevertheless my adult mind recognises that cars are wonderfully useful and adaptable, but the issue now is that people use them when other means of transport (walking, cycling, public transport) are the better solution. Why, for example, do people drive into the heart of London when walking, cycling and public transport are better solutions? Which is the sort of issue David Eden was raising about a 10 minute walk.

You might say why worry about it if people want to spend their money on the fuel and maintenance of a car? To which I say: "What about poor air quality, the use of resources unnecessarily, the lack of exercise, and the fact that on a residential estate like ours, the freedom of 'kids' to play in the streets, as I did as a child, has been lost?"

Children have been the biggest losers in the 'Car Age', though all of us have been denied clean air.

I am one of those parents who needs to ferry their children around because teenagers are being targeted and mugged at Southgate station on a daily basis. This was a non-essential car journey that has now become essential in order to ensure my child’s safety. There are many factors to be considered before imposing a scheme like this onto local residents. It is not simply black and white. I would love my son to walk home from Southgate station and in fact he did this throughout the summer until we discovered that the muggings had spilled onto Bourne Hill and so I have reluctantly stopped him.

Mary Jonnes story about her teenagers being targeted at Southgate station/Bourne Hill is a distressing one, and in her situation I'd also find a way of collecting them. But the underlying issue is about the well-being/quality of life of the many hundreds of people who live on the Lakes Estate of which I am one. Of course we all have our personal preferences and views about quality of life, and in the end the decision about the design will hope to achieve a better life for people of all ages. Cleaner air is certainly a big issue in the health and well-being of all of us. Cars powered by electricity from batteries will eventually help with that, but particles from tyres are likely to remain a problem.

If I was making the decision about the precise design I'd probably choose the Council's first stab at it, but I know that when the final design is chosen modifications to the design will have been made.

Well I hope the council listen to the residents of Oakfield Road ! Have a look at the plan and see how we will be effected please.
Oakfield Road will be the only route in and out of 5 big roads. How do you square the effect that will have on us ?

Is it ok to just send all the road problems onto someone else's road?

I agree Candy - I don't think it is fair (even though the removal of rat runners will vastly reduce the volume of traffic) - I think there's alternatives that will still prevent rat running but will reduce the dependency on your road.

Candy Newman and Adrian Day are right, but there is another factor which is the extent to which people living in the Fox Lane area will be persuaded to walk, cycle or use public transport more often than they do now. After all barriers to cars and vehicles generally are unlikely to be prevent walkers or cyclists leaving the estate by any street on the estate. However, a possible problem would be a rise in the use of motorbikes. Hopefully the Council has that thought in hand.

I feel for Candy as her road is certainly going to be flooded with more traffic, and probably going more quickly as the last experiment showed that irritated drivers seem to speed up to make up for lost time.

I am one of the lucky ones . After speaking to my accountant my I can buy a second car for both me and my wife which we can park on Aldermans Hill.Going to work via the North Circ will be a simple trip down Ulleswater or Derwent,parking and crossing the road to our second vehicle. It may even mean a quicker trip for us since everyone will be snarled up in Southgate circus so we can zip around faster.
This does mean 2 more cars on the road and 2 more cars taking up parking on the residential roads.
I can write off the cost of 2 additional cars against the business and pass on residual costs to customers .I'm not sure many people will have this luxury and moving congestion and pollution to other areas is wrong.

David has a good point about motorcycles.I have looked into this for my 2 teenagers. They are cheap and effective if you buy the' delivery' type mopeds (£950approx for a new 50cc moped)The downside for residents is the noise (Vespa like) and relatively high amount of dirty fumes each one produces . Not sure the council could stop them using residential roads as they can pass through a space wide enough for a pushchair.
With the local muggings and the buses now going to be messed up I would be happy to invest in a couple for my teenage children.This is an option I'd never considered before,I wonder if other parents feel the same.
David is correct in that motorcycle use will increase.Quite how much and to what extent it becomes a nuisance to the residents remains to be seen.