Oppose planning application for new Merlin Entertainments attraction at County Hall

Merlin Entertainments have a planning application for a new commercially-sensitive-so-undisclosed attraction to open at County Hall (already home to Merlin Entertainments existing London Eye and Aquarium, oh and the recently moved London Dungeon) which they expect to attract 600-700,000 visitor a year, whereas the Movieum it will replace attracts c50,000.

The proposed new visitor attraction is predicted to generate an additional 3-4% of the existing visitor numbers.

To the best of my knowledge no meaningful measures have been taken to make cycling better at County Hall (particularly the cycle route on Belvedere Road) with any of the previous developments. However, to the detriment of people on bikes, the large number of pedestrians on the river front has led to County Hall inhibiting cycling along the Thames Path.

I urge you to spend five minutes on Lambeth's website opposing the plans until a substantial improvement in the cycle route behind County Hall and cycle parking on site is undertaken. Please do it now if you can - there's only until February 18th. (I'll stick some photos in the blog when I have time, but don't delay acting until I do!)

The application is number 13/06055/FUL on planning.lambeth.gov.uk and once you have signed in to the site you can comment. Feel free to cut and paste bits from my objection (publicly viewable) or from this blog, or if you're a planning expert, make comments on my blog for people to include in their objection. Below I detail the policy areas that I consider are not being engaged with in this application.

The Transport Assessment, written by Atkins, for the new attraction confirms that the privately owned part of Belvedere Road behind County Hall is a cycle route - National Cycle Network route 4 as it happens. It is also a London Cycle Network route and a planned part of the Mayor's new central London cycle grid.

The owners of County Hall choose to make it a difficult area to enter and exit, and recently tried to make it even worse than it is.

They also provide no public cycle parking in their grounds. There is none on their section of Belvedere Road and none on Forum Magnum Square.

The Transport Assessment states (my emphasis):

4.15. Cycle parking stands are provided to the south of the concourse area of the London Eye located adjacent to Belvedere Road as well as numerous other locations around County Hall. In addition, cycle parking is also provided at Waterloo Tube Station a seven minute walk from the new visitor attraction and also adjacent to Royal Festival Hall on Belvedere Road a five minute walk from the site. 

8.10. No additional cycle parking is proposed as part of this planning application.

The absence of cycle parking within the grounds of County Hall is glossed over and nothing is said at all about the dreadful quality of the cycle route access / egress at County Hall, nor are any measures proposed to improve it.

So, let's see how this stacks up to policy that's cited within the Transport Assessment. Let's start with the big one, National Planning Policy Framework: Transport:

2.1. National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published March 2012 sets out the Government’s planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied. There are 12 core principles that underpin planning and decision-taking and the key one for transport is the promoting of sustainable transport, namely:
 actively manage patterns of growth to make the fullest possible use of public transport, walking and cycling, and
 focus significant development in locations which are or can be made sustainable.

In my view, no improvements to a poor quality cycle route coupled with no more cycle parking seems to fly in the face of that.

2.2. A key planning objective is to ensure that jobs, shopping, leisure facilities and services are accessible by public transport, walking and cycling. When preparing development plans or considering planning applications, local authorities should:
 accommodate the efficient delivery of goods and supplies;
 give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements, and have access to high
 quality public transport facilities;
 create safe and secure layouts which minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or pedestrians, avoiding street clutter and where appropriate establishing home zones;
 incorporate facilities for charging plug-in and other ultra-low emission vehicles; and
 consider the needs of people with disabilities by all modes of transport.

I would suggest that the transition from the road to the cycle path here exemplifies pedestrian / cyclist conflict and street clutter.

Now, what about regional level? The Mayor's Transport Strategy 2010 includes:

2.5. The Mayor’s transport vision is: ‘London’s transport system should excel among those of world cities, providing access to opportunities for all its people and enterprises, achieving the highest environmental standards and leading the world in its approach to tackling urban transport challenges of the 21st century.’
and
2.8. In October 2013 Revised Early Minor Alterations were published. A revision which is applicable here
is:
 New developments should provide cycle parking and cycle changing facilities to encourage more cycling. Cycle parking provided for staff should be suitable for long stay parking. 

Quite clearly the cycle route access and egress at County Hall falls far short of world leading infrastructure, as does an absence of public cycle parking on the site.

At borough level, the Lambeth Local Development Framework Core Strategy 2011, section 4 includes

(g) Promoting walking and cycling, including through improvements to existing provision and
provision in and around new development for cycling, cycle parking, the public realm and
transport and highway infrastructure. 

Move along, no improvement planned here

At local level there's the Waterloo Area Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which states,

New developments should connect to and improve the cycle network with direct, safe and
well-lit cycle routes.

and, finally, let's not forget Lambeth's Transport Plan 2011

2.13. Lambeth’s Transport Plan objectives are:
 Promote sustainable healthy travel behaviour
 Improve the condition of principal roads
 Improve Air Quality
 Reduce the perceived and actual danger on Lambeth’s roads
 Reduce CO2 emissions 

The Transport Consultancy fails to cite Lambeth's Cycling Strategy 2013, with its target of 20% of trips by cycle by 2020, and the demand for partnership working to achieve this. I would suggest that the application shows a distinct disinterest in helping achieve this.

Considerate behaviour promotion on Thames Path

It was good to see the police and Lambeth Council's transport team talking to cyclists and pedestrians on the Thames Path, and undertaking an informal survey. I was intrigued by the answers cyclists gave when asked why they chose the Thames Path over the adjoining A road. The majority talked about the risk of injury and general nastiness of the A road. The reply I particularly liked though was from a couple on a tandem who said cycling along the Thames Path was romantic. I completely agree with their view, and I can't imagine the same comment being made about the Lambeth and Westminster Bridge roundabouts and the A-roads.

The roller-bladers and their dog, above, typify the kind of hazardous space users that need to be considerate in their sharing of this lovely public space.

It was good to see some cycle parking installed by the cafe adjacent to Lambeth Bridge (though this photo is too poor to allow you to see it - it's where the cycle is.)

£4m for Thames Path

The SE1 website today reports that Mayor of London Boris Johnson has approved plans to spend nearly £4 million of Olympic funds on works to improve the riverside walkway along the South Bank and Bankside in time for the 2012 games.

I wonder if this funding came with a condition that considerate cycling needs to be permitted along the Thames Path by the respective boroughs and landowners, or is most of the £4m dedicated to improving cycling part of the Jubilee (Olympic) Walking and Cycling Greenway - which is largely on currently horrible A-roads that many families are too scared to cycle along?

New Thames Path signage

That's an improvement!

Pop the cork, it's Champagne time!

This afternoon I received the following news from Lambeth Council:

A recent decision has been made to take down the 'No Cycling' signs along the Lambeth owned stretch of river walk and instead erect: Pedestrian Priority. Considerate Cycling Welcomed This will however take a couple of weeks to come into effect in order to get new signs made up and to replace the existing ones.


We are really keen to tackle aggressive cycling along this stretch; however want to achieve this through a mixture of education methods and PCSO's stopping those they feel are cycling too fast.

Cheers!

Where should this child cycle?

I chatted to MP Kate Hoey and St Thomas' Hospital Chair Patricia Moberly as the Prince's Ward Coffee Morning today. They were clear that they viewed the ban as a solution to several constituents complaining about some reckless cyclists on the Thames Path and that it wasn't their view.

I also got the distinct impression that neither of them used a bike to get around and neither had considered what the alternatives to the South Bank felt like to people who did ride bikes.

I don't know the kid in the photo below. It was nudging 4pm this Saturday afternoon and he was cycling along the Thames Path with his mum walking along. I was coming the other way and had been contrasting the Thames Path with the alternative road route.

 Below is the on-road route (the Jubilee Greenway, National Cycle Route 4, A road, Red Route...) around 4pm this Saturday. A nice weekend recreational cycling space for families?

 What was it like on the Thames Path around 4pm on this Saturday?
Space outside the London Eye

 Rammed outside the Aquarium. I don't know the cyclist in the photo but it's obvious why he's got off his bike. Like every other cyclist I've seen on the Thames Path since I've been doing this blog he  was being considerate to pedestrians (not to say that there aren't some nutters as I'm sure there will be some - probably the same nutters who drive in cycle lanes on the road).

 Now it thins out

 and here's the bit by St Thomas' where the 'No Cycling' signs have gone up. The chap with the bike had remounted and ridden off.

In an age when we're aiming to encourage people to travel actively it is clear that the alternative cycling route is appalling in comparison to the Thames Path. If the authorities work to really improve the local roads to make them friendly for kids, grannies and everyone else wanting to ride bikes I'll bet fewer cyclists will use the Thames Path.

The Thames Path at 11am this Saturday morning

 A little busy outside the wheel but loads of space outside the Aquarium

 An empty tunnel

An almost empty Thames Path

Kate Hoey pledged support (but did she mean it?)

In the run up to the last election Kate Hoey signed up in support of the 'Vote Bike' Manifesto written by CTC, the UK's National Cyclists' Organisation. The manifesto has six key points, one of which is:

More and better opportunities for recreational and off-road cycling including the appropriate opening up of green spaces, forest land, rights of way, waterways and sections of Britain’s coast.

I hope that my blog posts over the past months have shown that it is completely inappropriate for 'No Cycling' signs to be put up on the Thames Path, which has a long history of shared use. I've even been told that the tunnel under Westminster Bridge came about following pressure from cycling campaigners. You can see by the markings that the route is intended to be shared:

I call upon Kate Hoey to honour her election pledge and fight for the ban on cycling, imposed since the election, on the Thames Path (the off-road cycle path by the Thames waterway) to be rescinded.

There's plenty of space for considerate cycling

There's no subterfuge to my Thames Path campaign. There are photos on this blog of the Path from last August. Since November I've simply taken a photo as soon as I arrive at the Thames Path if I happen to be passing and stuck most up here. I've taken some around 8am on a weekday, some on a Saturday afternoon, some on a Sunday afternoon, some mid-morning. The area where 'No Cycling' signs have gone up has never been crowded when I've been there.

Here's Sunday 22nd January at 1pm:

 and looking the other way along the Thames Path

 I'm totally mystified why those who have concerns about cycling on the Thames Path haven't done a trial with signs such as the following that British Waterways use, backed up with action against reckless cyclists by the plentitude of PCSO's employed to walk along protecting parliament from terrorists :

Cyclist with disability ordered off tricycle on South Bank path

This week's London Cycling Campaign newsletter reports that,

"The charity, Wheels For Wellbeing, has complained to Lambeth Council after a lady with a disability was ordered off her mobility tricycle on the South Bank.

Anne Wright (pictured) was stopped by a Community Support Officer and told she should not be cycling along on the riverside path by Lambeth Bridge."

This is precisely the kind of collateral damage I anticipated would be caused by slapping a blanket ban on cycling rather than enforcing a policy of 'pedestrian priortity; considerate cycling permitted'.

You may remember that in November I spoke to a couple of cyclists I met on the Thames Path about the potential ban:
When told he would be expected to ride on the road he volunteered that he was 78 years old and suffers from Spinal Scelerosis, and that such a move would force him to switch from his bike to a wheelchair.

The alternative A-road express route, described as 'excellent' by Kate Hoey, the local MP, but which the Chief Executive of Walk England doesn't feel is good enough to actively promote, looked like this yesterday:

Greenway or Thames Path for Gran and the kiddies?

Oh, the fun we had cycling in Lambeth on the Jubilee Greenway Olympic cycle route this afternoon. First we jostled with the taxis while we tried to make sense of the big sign on York Road.

Then we chortled as we tried to work out which of the three lanes we needed to be in to continue to follow the Greenway into Lambeth Palace Road. You should have seen us split our sides when we tried to get into the middle lane. Just as well St Thomas' Hospital is near by.

Silly Grandad said we should have just ignored the signs saying 'No Cycling' on the Thames Path. But Gran's not one to ignore important looking signs on black bins. She was sure they wouldn't have been put up without good reason. It must be too busy for cyclists.

Grandad said "Just look at what it was like this afternoon."

Lambeth's Olympic route set to fail

Lack of funding is threatening the Jubilee Greenway, a 60km walking and cycling route connecting all nine of London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games venues with many of the capital’s finest attractions, parks and historic landmarks.

At its launch, Boris Johnson said, "Few capitals of the world can boast such a superb asset for walkers and cyclists".

But the Chief Executive of Walk England, Jim Walker, has replied to my concerns about the route in Lambeth saying,
"We have marked a cyclable path for information on the map/text on our site but don't actively promote the cycling potential of the path because - as you say, on advice from several competent cyclists sadly there are limitations to the quality of the current experience in several places.

Sadly we don't have funding for improving the cycling offer either so we have some challenges."

Within Lambeth the cycling 'Greenway' (which is currently unsigned, unlike the walking part) is mainly on busy A roads that many families fear cycling on. It comes behind the Southbank Centre to York Road, swinging onto Westminster Bridge roundabout, then takes Lambeth Palace Road, before approaching the roundabout (above) onto Lambeth Bridge.

An obvious, and cheap, solution (with decent views) would be to combine the cycling and walking routes along the wide Thames Path except that, contentiously and contrary to Transport for London's opinion, local politicians recently arranged for 'No Cycling' signs to be installed on the Jubilee Greenway section (below on Saturday 16 Jan at 1pm) despite it having been a shared space for years and there being no Traffic Management Order banning cycling. Campaigners from Lambeth Cyclists and the local Living Streets groups would prefer to see signage emphasising pedestrian priority and considerate cycling, with enforcement activity focussed on reckless cyclists.

An alternative scenic option, sensible for the future development along the South Bank, would be to develop Guy's and St Thomas' service road (below) as a cycle path, running parallel to the Thames Path, linking Lambeth Bridge to Belvedere Road:

Fortunately our MP, Kate Hoey, is the Mayor of London's Commissioner for Sport, and should have the clout to get the necessary funding for the cycling part of the Greenway to be up to the standard of the walking part ready for the Olympics and as a legacy beyond.

She shouldn't face an uphill task. After all,
"The Jubilee Greenway is being supported by a partnership including senior representatives from central government, The Mayor’s office, Royal Parks, The Olympic Delivery Authority, Transport for London, British Waterways, Thames Water and all the relevant local authorities."

You may wish to write to Kate Hoey with your views on the best solution(s) at hoeyk@parliament.uk .

Email now to oppose cycling ban

London Cycling Campaign (LCC) today emailed this video to all its e-list members.

Considerate Cycling rather than No Cycling should be the policy on the South Bank and LCC ask you to email cycling@lambeth.gov.uk objecting to the recent signs that have been erected banning cycling.

Lambeth residents may also wish to email their local Councillors and MP whose contact details are here .

It's worth noting that support for a considerate cycling policy here comes from the local Living Streets (formerly Pedestrian Association) group too.

The Thames Path in the morning rush

Above, no traffic jam at 8.07am.
Below, no traffic jam at 8.41am, or below at 8.49am.
Two of the photos show cyclists pootling along the Thames Path ignoring the No Cycling signs. The PCSOs I talked to weren't going to make the cyclists get off - they weren't a problem and, as it turns out, there's no law against cycling there so they can't actually make you get off or  issue a ticket unless, of course, you are cycling in a Wanton and Reckless manner.

It makes me wonder whether it's legal for the authorities to put up a sign saying 'No Cycling' when there's no bylaw or anything to that effect? Maybe we can all put up signs - I favour 'No Meddling with Considerate Thames Path Users - be they cyclists, pedestrians, joggers, Segway riders or Motorised Wheelchair users'.

 

Pedestrians banned from Thames Path

 3.30pm today at the riverside of St Thomas' Hospital and the powers that be have seemingly banned walkers as well as cyclists from the Thames Path. 

Christmas Day on the Southbank

Returning from watching the swimmers in the Serpentine I visited the Thames Path at about 9.45am. Yet another occasion when it would have been splendid to cycle along it, if a ban hadn't been imposed.

Jubilee Greenway or Motorway?

The Jubilee Greenway is a path for walkers and cyclists linking the London Olympic and Paralympic Games venues with some of the capital's best attractions, heritage sites, parks, waterways and views.

Young visitors from the Netherlands over for the Olympics? Why not send them out for the day to ride our version of Dutch child friendly cycling infrastructure, the Jubilee Greenway, incorporating Kate Hoey's excellent cycle route past St Thomas' Hospital and crosses over Lambeth Bridge? All 60 km (35 miles) of The Jubilee Greenway is already fully open and available to walk and cycle.

Oh, hang on,  However, a recent audit by Walk England identified several areas which would benefit from further investment to primarily improve accessibility, signage and safety.

I wonder whether there are plans to create a motor traffic free cycle route along Lambeth Palace Road?

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London said: “The Jubilee Greenway will be a terrific way for Londoners and Games goers to get around the capital. Whether by foot or by pedal power, people that use the route will be able to enjoy some of London’s best parks and most wonderful waterways. Few capitals of the world can boast such a superb asset for walkers and cyclists.“

The Jubilee Greenway is being supported by a partnership including senior representatives from central government, The Mayor’s office, Royal Parks, The Olympic Delivery Authority, Transport for London, British Waterways, Thames Water and all the relevant local authorities. The Jubilee Walkway Trust is working in partnership with Walk England to coordinate the investment programme.

TfL opposed to South Bank cycling ban

The Albert Embankment where cycling is now banned, on 22 Dec at 3.30pm, with plenty of space for pedestrians and cyclists as usual.

Today, top local community website London-SE1 reports:

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and chair of Transport for London, has voiced his opposition to a ban on cycling on the Thames Path along the South Bank.



Green Party London Assembly member Jenny Jones recently tabled a question asking the Mayor of London whether he supported a ban on cycling on part of the South Bank.


"TfL does not believe that cycling should be banned along the South Bank," replied Boris Johnson.

"TfL's response referenced my target to increase cycling by 400 per cent by 2026, to improve cycle safety, and the importance of improving the permeability for cyclists in central London, including in the Waterloo area."

Kate Hoey's "Excellent Cycling Route"

At 9.48am today the Thames Path by St Thomas' Hospital wasn't busy (above). Plenty of room to pootle along on a bike except that our local policitians, such as MP Kate Hoey, and organisations such as the hospital, have clubbed together in advance of the publication of the South Bank and Waterloo Cycling Strategy to ban cycling here.

At 10.17 the Thames Path wasn't busy either (below)

Not being allowed to cycle along here any more, I was obliged to take the route our MP, Kate Hoey, recommends  "There is of course an excellent cycling route on the main road along past Lambeth Palace and the hospital."

Thus it was that at 10.22 I was sat stationary, breathing in diesel particulates, in the bumper-to-exhaust motor traffic, stuck behind the bus that was stuck behind other traffic in the advisory cycle lane. Excellent? Pah.