The council’s writing to residents about the Healthy Neighbourhood (a Low Traffic Neighbourhood) that will cover the Victorian/Edwardian streets between the Broadway, Oaklands Road and Olive Road. The letter’s also on the council website – click here – along with an area plan and detailed drawings. Reactions to a councillor’s leak have varied: some are riled, some uncertain, some enthusiastic – after all, most households in Mapesbury don’t have cars or vans either. We gather that consultations will begin when the scheme’s in place and we see how we residents get on with it – or don’t – and how drivers cutting through here between Anson / Chichele Roads and the Broadway react after the first few days. Presumably some will stop cutting through and some will keep at it, but how many of each? Brent aim to finish the works by the end of September. The first review’s set for six months in.
The council has some more information about Healthy Neighbourhoods on its website – click here,
We hope for quieter, safer, healthier streets. We already have problems and we know we can expect even more traffic as the RFF ramps up to 450 HGV movements a day and the Matalan, Galtymore, 1-13 Cricklewood Lane and B&Q sites are developed, followed by Beacon Bingo and more sites on either side of the Edgware Road, displacing and drawing traffic down our roads. We’ll need some protection and Brent will hardly be able to afford that – it’s already facing a major budget crisis. This government-funded scheme may be our last chance.