Council plans to turn parking spaces into mini parks

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Parking spaces could be turned into miniature parks under a town hall’s plan to slash the number of cars on the road.

Southwark council wants to cut the number of cars owned in the borough by 10 percent over the next seven years as part of its plan to improve air quality and reduce traffic, revealed in its new transport strategy.

To encourage residents to ditch their cars, the Labour-run council is promising people they will live within 200 metres of a safe walking route and get a space in a cycle hangar within six months of applying for one.

It also plans to ban cars from streets outside all schools where it is possible to do so during pick-up and drop-off times by 2030.

Southwark councillor James McAsh said: “Streets for People is a transport strategy but it also goes beyond that. It’s really looking at how we use our street space in all the different ways it can be used.

“In some places it will be possible to turn the equivalent of three parking spaces into a small linear park with some benches and trees. In some cases where there’s a cul-de-sac or there’s no through traffic, you could expand into the carriageway as a whole or turn it into something bigger.”

Cllr McAsh, who said he usually cycles to work at Southwark council’s Tooley Street headquarters, added that officials would focus on reaching out to “under heard” groups including local traders and disabled people while developing measures to encourage people to make the switch from cars.

But he said some traders’ fears about the consequences of discouraging cars were “unfounded”, pointing to statistics that showed pedestrians on average spent more than drivers at local businesses, but over multiple trips.

He said: “If you drive to a shop, you are more likely to spend more money on that journey than you would if you walked to the shop. However if you’re someone who walks, you’re more likely to spend more money in the local economy full stop but you’ll do it in lots of smaller journeys.”

Southwark Council has previously come under criticism from residents for its introduction of low traffic neighbourhoods [LTN], where streets are closed off to traffic. In May, officials scrapped plans to introduce a new LTN in Dulwich Village after a backlash from disabled groups and blue badge holders.

The new 31 page transport strategy contains no mention of LTNs but commits the council to creating “nine new Streetspace schemes by 2030,” which are effectively the same thing.

Cllr McAsh said that all Streetspace schemes would be on internal roads that were not “through routes for most traffic”.  The new strategy also commits the council to exploring “options to pedestrianise areas in town centres”.

But Cllr McAsh ruled out the council pedestrianising Rye Lane in Peckham. The street was temporarily closed to all vehicles during the Covid-19 pandemic but reopened to buses and taxis afterwards, despite some residents wanting all vehicles to remain banned.

Cllr McAsh said it was “simply not possible to work out a route for buses to get near enough to the train station whilst keeping Rye Lane closed to buses.”

Pictured top: An example of what a mini park can look like (Picture: Lambeth council)