walking in london – London Living Streets

1. London LS Meeting. Our next meeting will be held from 6pm to 8pm Monday 14th September 2026. Venue – Front basement room, 75 Cowcross St EC1M 6EL.

The agenda for the meeting is:

1. Welcome, introductions and apologies

2. Carspreading campaign – update: Caz Conneller Clean Cities

3. Pavement parking in London and car ownership and its impact – Alice Roberts.

4. Central London Living Streets group – update Cat Kenyon. The Central London group now has a webpage on the Living Streets groups page at: https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/get-involved/local-groups/central-london-local-group/

5. Creating strategic walking networks – Emma Griffin Footways

6. Vision Zero – update inc. How to reduce danger on the TLRN (see pdf attachment).

7. Around the boroughs.

8. AOB and date of next meeting.

The minutes of our previous meeting are here.

2. City of London Transport trends

Summary of travel trends in the City of London over the past few years

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/assets/Services-Environment/City-Streets-2025-Summary-Report.pdf

The number of motor vehicles counted has decreased nearly two-thirds since 1999. In contrast the number of cycles counted has increased nearly four-fold since 1999.
Most of the decrease has been observed during or immediately after significant changes or events in the City of London or the global economy, including the introduction of the Congestion Charge in 2003, the Global Recession in 2008-09, the introduction of
Transport for London’s Cycle Superhighways in the City in 2015-16, the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020-22, and most recently the boost in popularity of dockless hire bikes.

3. Research – Cutting traffic cuts vandalism, burglary and violence, research shows

University of Leeds study showing that levels of street crime go up if motor traffic increases – and there is a corresponding drop if traffic levels fall – https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/5987/cutting-traffic-cuts-vandalism-burglary-and-violence-research-shows

4. TfL London on the Move. Document outlining how TfL plans to deliver the Mayor’s Transport Strategy goals, including to achieve Vision Zero and promote active, efficient and sustainable travel

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/londononthemove.pdf

5. Vision Zero and Reducing Road Danger – Attached is the latest research from our friends at Action Vision Zero relating to road danger and Vision Zero in the capital.

A) Speed enforcement in London – here

B) The current position on Public reporting and the Metropolitan Police – https://londonlivingstreets.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/avzbriefing-publicreportingmetpolice-15jul26.pdf

C) Road danger on the TfL controlled Red Route roads (TLRN) and steps that need to be taken to reduce casualties – here

6. Grants for community groups that help get people walking and cycling

TfL has opened applications for grants from community groups that help get people walking and cycling.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mayoroflondon_too-many-londoners-still-face-barriers-to-share-7495127487350292481-8GgX/?rcm=ACoAACNJaB0BrgAYnQ-IWpTPck4vUXAdx0EfuxQ

The link to apply is: https://tfl-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/tfl-and-london-marathon-funding-returns-to-help-break-down-barriers-to-walking-and-cycling-for-even-more-londoners

…and wcgl.london Applications close 28^th Sept.

7. Consultation from TfL about further improvements relating to Cycleway 9 in West London

TfL is proposing changes to make the A315 London Road and High Street, safer for people walking, cycling and using our bus services. The proposals include extending the western section of Cycleway 9 between Syon Park and Hounslow Town centre, upgrading pedestrian crossings along the route to make side roads safer to cross, widening footways and exploring opportunities for more planting and trees.

You can find out more about the proposals and have your say at: https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/cycleway-9-west

The closing date for this consultation is Monday 19 October 2026.

8. Defending Tower Hamlets LTNs in the Supreme Court – hearing date confirmed for 28 January 2027

News from the amazing Save Our Safer Streets campaign in Tower Hamlets who are currently facing the final hurdle of a Supreme Court hearing in early in 2027.

A group of senior judges will give a final verdict on whether the Mayor of Tower Hamlets acted beyond his powers by deciding to remove the LTN in Bethnal Green without the Mayor of London agreeing to this.

We’ve raised £17,500 out of our £25,000 target to cover all our legal costs – so there’s £7,500 remaining before we can fight this case fully in court. Please chip in what you can over the next few months and keep sharing about our campaign with people you know. This really is the final push but it matters as much as it ever did.

9. Kerbside Greening. New report from Possible looking at The Case for Kerbside Greening.

Info about the report – https://www.wearepossible.org/our-reports/kerbside-greening

Download the report – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vEz4O5EmiTqFz0HMwMAaDFsNv0GLjA5sYKhGP8IWb7c/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0

10. News snippets

A. 12-month report into the impact of the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels – here

B. From the Standard, Camden’s approval of a healthy streets project on Fitzjohn Avenue – here

C. Camden High Street -background to the latest proposals (NB Consultation has now closed) – here

D. Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) council becomes the first UK Local Authority to introduce a parking surcharge for larger cars and SUVs. More here

E. Latest on the Oxford Street pedestrianisation – here

TfL say that they have now begun enabling works to prepare Oxford Street to become traffic free between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street by late October 2026.

F. Examples of reclaiming space from cars across Europe – do look at the amazing project in Antwerp – here

G. TfL punishing Croydon with £2m funding freeze and issues warning to other boroughs – here

Northcote Road (Photo: Wandsworth Council)

Download this blog as a pdf here

Here is something you may have seen, but never heard of – al fresco streets! And you won’t have heard of them because the term has only just been invented by some enterprising officers at Wandsworth Council. In fact, this Council may be in the forefront of a move to transform some London streets in wholly unexpected ways.

The basic idea is to turn suitable streets into places where people on foot really are top dog. Motor traffic is largely or completely excluded and all parking suspended. This happens either at weekends or every day. In summer, and perhaps all year round. The al fresco street takes off from the already hugely popular ‘streateries’ (the name given to what has been done in Soho) that have caught on all over the country with restaurants during the Covid epidemic[i] — the difference being a ‘whole street’ treatment (individual businesses do not have to apply for permission to spread across the road) and the exclusion of motor traffic.

It was the Covid pandemic that kicked off these ideas. Lockdown rules (a constantly changing kaleidoscope, of course) ordered almost all retail outlets, pubs, wine bars, restaurants, coffee shops etc to close. And when they could eventually open, social distancing initially said patrons must stay outside. In early summer last year, Wandsworth Council identified two streets with a concentration of such businesses, and introduced the al fresco experiment. One was Northcote Road in Battersea, SW11, already a very popular shopping and eating out street. The other was Old York Road in Central Wandsworth, SW18. And most recently, a third street, part of Bedford Hill in Balham, SW12 is trialling a similar, temporary makeover. All three, during their operational times, are closed to delivery lorries, cars and other motor vehicles. Businesses are allowed to spread out seating and tables across the pavement and on to much of the carriageway, with the strict requirement that a wide passageway is left along the carriageway for pedestrians, disabled people and their mobility vehicles, and cyclists. In Northcote Road this happens at weekends only; in Old York Road, every day. Local circumstances, flexibility, experimentation are the name of the game in terms of what physical measures, traffic orders etc are introduced. And throughout, it is important that Officers considered the needs of disabled people, including ease of access and installation of dropped kerbs where these are missing.

Transport for London (TfL) had to re-reroute buses, now for the second year running. The Met was asked to review, and agreed, that adequate measures had been put in place to deter a terrorist attack. Businesses were brought on board. The pubs and wine-bars on Northcote Road agreed a community toilet scheme where everyone could use their facilities even if not drinking or eating at the particular establishment. Money was found for planters, water-filled barriers, even concrete caissons at certain locations. Traffic orders were drawn up to minimise inconvenience to residents on side roads needing to use their cars. None of this was easy.

We are now in the 2nd year of this experiment. It has proved immensely popular, not only with local people, but other Londoners from further afield. All day Saturday and Sunday, Northcote Road is awash with throngs of people, including many families. Eating and drinking establishments are obviously doing very well. Retail shopkeepers, particularly clothes shops on Northcote Road, had been very hesitant originally, but most are now seeing upturns in their turnover. And in the few weeks the Bedford Hill experiment has been going, local businesses and residents living on that stretch of the road are welcoming it with enthusiasm. One group there however, called One Wandsworth that was started last year in reaction to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Tooting, has filled the airwaves with a host of objections, often virulently worded, allegedly in the name of residents – to the removal of some parking.

There are examples of these al fresco streets elsewhere. A short stretch of Kensington Park Road in Notting Hill, W11. And, most delightful of all, Church Street in Twickenham which lies a stone’s throw from the Thames opposite Eel Pie Island.

Have you got any al fresco street in your part of London with a similar experiment in hand? And if so, do let us know (if possible sending a pic too), as well as what you think of it, and how it might be improved.
And if you haven’t, can you suggest a possible candidate street in your borough where your Council could try out the idea next summer? Do talk to your Ward Councillors and/or appropriate Council Officers and suggest they look into the idea.

Church Street Twickenham (LB Richmond) (Photo: Shona Lyons, Crusader Travel)

And would you like a guided tour of one of Wandsworth’s al fresco streets? WANDSWORTH LIVING STREETS would be happy to show you around. And talk through the difficulties that can arise and how they can be overcome. We can also put your Borough Officers in touch with the relevant Officers in Wandsworth (and the Councillor responsible for the project) if they would like to learn more. Contact Robert Molteno, Secretary, Wandsworth Living Streets at Robert.Molteno@gmail.com