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news
Cycleway 9 on Chiswick High Road (picture credit TfL)Conservative councillors say people going for brunch are 'ruining cycle lane experiment'
People who visit Chiswick for brunch are 'trampling' over local residents views' by using a new cycle lane, say Tory councillors.
The row comes as the Labour-run Hounslow Council turned down a Conservative challenge to the Chiswick High Road cycle lane - built in February 2021.
The TfL-funded cycle lane is intended to promote healthy travel, increase safety and discourage car use.
The Chiswick Conservatives organised a 'call-in' on August 4, asking the council to re-think its decision to keep the cycle lane for another six-months, reports My London.
But all members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee voted to push ahead with the new lane.
> West London council votes to make temporary cycleway permanent - for next 18 months at least
Turnham Green's Tory councillor Joanna Biddolph, said: “We continually have decisions made about Chiswick that are just imposed on us by people who just do not know it.
“Driving through it or having brunch here is not knowing how Chiswick works, you have to know it as a resident or a worker.”
Chiswick Homefields councillor and Tory leader Gerald McGregor said: “This current scheme, and the new Experiment Traffic Order is hopeless.
“There is a perceived lack of fairness, Chiswick residents feel they have been trampled on. The democratic deficit is clear here.”
The new cycle lane plan was 'rubber stamped' by Hounslow’s leadership and 'uses weasel words and lacks transparency', Cllr Biddolph argued.
> Huge growth in number of people including families riding bikes on West London protected cycleway
Defending the scheme, Hanif Khan cabinet member for transport, said London Mayor’s have consistently encouraged active travel.
He added: “The council transport strategy set out to reduce the dominance of cars on the road and we see that everywhere, where possible we want to take necessary steps to provide amenities to encourage walking and cycling.
“The pandemic has further highlighted the need for the benefit of urgently providing high quality cycling infrastructure.”
Council transport officer Jefferson Nwokeoma, revealed that between February and June 2021 average weekly cycle lane users increased from 1,239 to 2,316.
Mr Nwokeoma emphasised that the council was going 'above and beyond' by engaging with the public for 21 days before starting the new temporary cycle lane.
Defending an alleged 'failure to consult' in the last seven months, Mr Nwokeoma said 8,000 letters were sent to Chiswick’s 45,000 residents, as well as stakeholder emails and 'town hall type events'.
Speaking about the plans last month, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, said: “[The] data shows the huge positive impact cycle lanes can have not only in enabling more people to cycle, but also in reducing road danger and improving air quality.
“Chiswick High Road has been transformed by the trial lane, with cycling on weekdays up by almost three quarters and bikes now making up a fifth of ‘vehicles’ using the road during the day.
“We will continue to work with Hounslow Council and boroughs across London to do all we can to ensure a greener and cleaner recovery from the pandemic.”
Latest Comments
- mattw 1 hour 28 min ago
Lisa Townsend very much views her police role through a political lens....
- Bigtwin 2 hours 20 min ago
My LBS has a 105 Di2 Giant road bike in the window for £5k, all bar a quid. It's been there for months. QED.
- Bigtwin 2 hours 24 min ago
Museum thread, but hey. I had one of these, before I saw this review. And it's spot on. The review, not the bike. I put up with it for a couple...
- mattw 3 hours 1 min ago
Signed and promoted in a couple of my networks.
- mattw 3 hours 10 min ago
Trying to work out why I need a £390 3d printed titanium bottle cage....
- wtjs 5 hours 28 min ago
Good point! Over 18 months later, and I haven't seen (could have missed it!) a long term review of this groupset
- wtjs 5 hours 37 min ago
What was supposed to be a 10-minute drive turned into a journey of an hour and 45 minutes The Joy, The Joy!
- unami 5 hours 42 min ago
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/exclusive/365458/driver-whose-towbar-voide......
- Steve K 6 hours 43 min ago
A lake caused by a cycle lane speed hump/raised crossing will be a familiar sight to anyone who commutes on CS7 in London.
- Miller 8 hours 22 min ago
Pogi and a few of the others are on the divisive new Colnago aero bike in those Insta photos.
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51 comments
"This is a local bike lane for local people"
They do seem to be slightly bonkers there
https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/councillor-calls-woke-fr...
Oh, sorry 'one avocado short of a brunch'.
I was struck by his use of the phrase ".....that's what many people, many, many people think......" Just like Trump used to say.
You don't understand our country ways!!!
You don't understand our contrary ways!!!
Another one on the list when visting the in laws - ride at <20mph (or is it at 24 mph?) in Richmond Park and ride along Chiswick High Road.
People who
visit Chiswick for brunchare switching mode of transport for local journeys are'trampling' over local residents views'disproving the prejudices of petrol addicts by using a new cycle lane, say Tory councillors.Is what I think they mean
Oh the irony......
You mustelids should stick together.
I've never figured out how to tell apart a weasel and a stoat
Why, 'tis simple HP...
A weasel is weasily recognised.
A stoat, however, is stoatally different
Apart from the joke, which is one of my favourites, it's the black tip on a stoat's tail that sets it apart from its smaller cousin the weasel.
Also weasels can't swim.
Does that mean they're not witches?....
I think they can,
Witches! let's burn them!
Should, not must[elid]
I'd say they're not my family but, in a scientific sense at least, they very much are.....
My take on the Tory councillor whinging was that the councillors who drive through Chiswick and go there for brunch i.e. the ones from Hounslow, are forcing their views on the good residents of Chiswick. (From Wikipedia: Chiswick is a district within the Borough of Hounslow)
The two Tories quoted presumably actually live in Chiswick and are saying that they know their residents best. Which can be a reasonable argument, but in this case they aren't producing any evidence of the views of Chiswickians (?) unlike the Hounslow councillors who are at least evidencing a consultation process.
It could also be that the Tories just are desperate to have a go at a successful Labour run borough. The Tories haven't held LBof Hounslow since 1971, it's been Labour almost all the way. The exception was 2006 to 2010, when the minority Conservatives linked up with a short lived bunch of independents. It's one of the few outer London boroughs that has consistently voted for Labour. Hounslow is one of the most ethenically diverse outer London boroughs and they've served the population of the borough well, which is why they keep getting voted in. I suspect that certain sections of Chiswick society would like UDI from rough old Hounslow.
Having sucessfully run Hounslow for so long I think they've a pretty good idea of what is required for the borough as a whole and those who travel through it.
Oh yes and Chiswick has always been a very nice (fairly white) middle class sort of place, and it's the only part of the borough with a London postal district.
As for the rest of the borough well for Brentford (home of the Mighty Bees, "We're just a Bus Stop in Hounslow!!!") watch People do Nothing, for Hounslow here is my homey Chabuddy G to explain. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBTEiUgh7lI There's also Feltham, (nothing like Chiswick), Heston (also nothing like Chiswick), Hanworth, Heston and Hatton Cross (also nothing like Chiswick) and Isleworth a bit sort of inbetween Hounslow and Chiswick, but more suburban.
I was dragged up in Haans-low, to give it it's correct pronunciation.
It will be interesting to see if this goes further - the councillor in question job is to deal with a company or individual's reputational crisis when they have publicly shit themselves in the foot. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannabiddolph/?originalSubdomain=uk
That's an interesting metaphor.
Pictures please!
What is the problem? Sales of Avocado Toast are going throught the roof in Chiswick.
'twill attract all kinds of undesirables
Got to crack down hard on these clowns or we'll be up to our balls in jugglers
Well, it's all for the greater good.
It seems these backwards thinking conservatives haven't been brought up to speed with 'Gear Change'. I presume head office will have to decide whether strenuous reeducation or a P45 is more appropriate.
Aaah, conservatives. How are they supposed to argue for the removal of cycle lanes if people actually use them! It's just not fair. Don't we know that their fragile egos depend on being able to laud their superiority over others, which can't happen if it's easy for people to use non-status symbol transport to go somewhere and quelle horreur actually enjoy themselves? It's upsetting the social order, that can't possibly be allowed!
The people writing in to their MPs and complaining loudly don't appear to realise they're actually the minority.
Not merely using them but stopping and spending money too, thus propping up local businesses. It's hard for the Tories to argue against capitalism.
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