The twisted world of Waltham Forest cycling

This blog started life at this very site in August 2007. See the photo here.

It’s now 2010 and see the difference! Pics taken yesterday.

The cycle stand is wrecked and the local car wash outfit now has two signs on the footway instead of one (see photo below). You can still use this stand but you risk losing your bike, as one snip of a boltcutter is probably all it takes to cut through the stand at the point where it's bent.

Laws to protect cyclists and pedestrians are enforced by no one, whether it’s the police or the council.

Just for the record

(a) The Council has the power "to require the removal of anything deposited on a highway so as to constitute a nuisance" (Highways Act, 1980, Section 149).

(b) The Council has the power "to require that free passage along the highway is not wilfully obstructed in any way (Highways Act, 1980, Section 137).

(c) The Council has a duty "to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment of the highway (Highways Act, 1980, Section 130).

Or to put it another way

Placing large advertising boards on the public footway is against the law and could cause problems for parents with buggies, elderly people and those with disabilities” said Peter Turvey, Head of Street Environment.

But that's a different local authority. In Waltham Forest the Council turns a blind eye to the widespread abuse of public space by local businesses. No councillor ever seems to walk or cycle anywhere, or take the slightest interest in the widespread degradation of the walking and cycling environment.

This damaged cycle stand was probably hit by a lorry whose driver then drove off (council tax payers are left to pick up the bill for widespread damage of this sort caused by the lawless and barely-regulated road haulage industry). You can be certain that this stand will not be replaced in 2010. Or 2011, come to that. Or ever.

Lamp post, lamp post, burning bright

Two months ago I drew attention to the blazing hypocrisy of the Council for using the Green Fair to promote the message 'switch it off' when the Council itself had lighting columns burning brightly in broad daylight all over the borough. One of the examples I gave was this lamp post on the path that runs through the churchyard of St Mary's. Two months later it is still burning brightly in broad daylight. This afternoon.

Signs of the council's indifference to walking

We will improve the street environment for pedestrians by ensuring the provision of unobstructed and well protected footways (London Borough of Waltham Forest 'Green Charter'

Funnily enough, since I started comparing the empty pledges of the Council's 'Green Charter' with the reality, the text of the Charter seems to have disappeared from the Council's website. Suffice it to say that there are literally thousands of 'A' boards unlawfully obstructing the footways of the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

Hoe Street, junction with Grove Road E17, Saturday.

A perfect match

The Alcohol Restriction Zone sign on the blue lighting column goes perfectly with the nearby Carling Black Label beer poster, wouldn't you say?

And look at that sensitively located street furniture. Who could possibly doubt this Council's commitment to a clutter-free walking environment, where the safety and convenience of pedestrians comes first?

This is outside Walthamstow Central station.

Advertising the Council's indifference to walking and cycling

Transport for London’s Walking Plan for London requires local authorities to

Carry out regular inspections of the highway to remove temporary obstructions to the footway e.g. advertising boards and display goods.

The Council’s own Green Charter asserts

We will improve the street environment for pedestrians by ensuring the provision of unobstructed and well protected footways.

Both documents are completely worthless and bear no relation at all to the real world. This advertising board on Hoe Street at the junction with St Mary Road E17 achieves the unusual feat of being both in a dual-direction cycle lane and on the footway. Even worse, this board redundantly punctuates a plural.

TAKEN

This stretch of pavement on High Road Leytonstone has been taken from pedestrians for an obstructive and ugly advertising panel. It shows a hero with a hand gun. Glamourising shooting, eh? But I suppose the revenue made for the Council from renting out advertising space promoting sexy violence and booze helps to fund its anti-social behaviour agenda...

The council likes to pretend it is keen to see more people walking. To which the only appropriate response is Shame on you!

Flagrant obstruction of the footway

According to the council's Green Charter it is committed to clearing the streets of trader's boards which unlawfully clutter the footway. Except that it doesn't and there are hundreds of boards out there placed illegally on the pavement, together with quite a few jammed up against cycle stands. Hoe Street, junction with Browns Road E17.

Thanks!

Every effort has been made to prevent motor vehicles from getting too close to this cycle stand on Lea Bridge Road. It makes a change. And as you can see, this is a council which is passionate about stopping shopkeepers from putting advertising boards on the pavement (and it must be true because it says so in the Green Charter!)

Council slams Bristol ‘plagiarism’

Bristol is planning to go ahead with a ‘wild Eden’ project, containing a Tanzanian savannah, Georgian wetlands, and a Costa Rican swamp.

A spokesperson for the London Borough of Waltham Forest said this was ‘obviously stealing an idea we came up with a long time ago.'

Waltham Forest’s ‘wild Eden’ project involves letting walking and cycling routes revert to their original ‘wild’ state.

(Below) The entrance to the public footpath on Heathcote Grove E4 reproduces the impenetrable Amazon rainforest experience for those seeking an adventure holiday in Chingford. Machetes and a compass are essential items for this route.




















(Below) The exotic and challenging 'walking route to Tottenham' alongside the A503.





















(Below) The fabulous hanging gardens of Leyton (in an alleyway alongside Mayville Primary School)





















(Below) The prize-winning Orient Way cycle path gracefully returns to nature. Not recommended for cyclists. Some sections may be unsuitable for those of a nervous disposition.





















(Below) The legendary 'lost pavement' of Vallentin Road E17. For those seeking that extra thrill, try to get past the buried pavement before an oncoming car knocks you down.

Raising two fingers to the disabled

The width between these bollards on the footpath between Teesdale Road E11 and Whipps Cross Road is less than one metre, which prevents access for some types of wheelchair and also falls well below the required standard for meeting the needs of footway users with a mobility handicap

A blind person using a long cane or with an assistance dog needs 1100mm. A visually impaired person who is being guided needs a width of 1200mm. A wheelchair user and an ambulant person side-by-side need 1500mm width. (PDF format)

Wherever possible these standards should be met: Minimum unobstructed footway width 1800mm. Minimum preferred footway width 2000mm

The wheelchair challenge

This attractive, well-maintained and sensibly sited traffic island on Pretoria Avenue E17 ensures that wheelchair users have a total of four high kerbs to negotiate as they cross the road at a dangerous junction.

Perfect for toning up those arm muscles.

The unbearable dimness of Belam

FORMAL complaints about street cleaning have almost doubled since private company Kier took over the contract. But the council is pleased with the £600,000 saving it has made.

Cabinet member for environment, Cllr Bob Belam, did not think Kier was to blame. He said: "It is clear that in the lead up to the new contract street sweeping and grounds maintenance services were not as good as they should have been. Kier, since taking over the contract, have retrained our staff and have put on extra resources at night and at the weekend to deal with this problem. Roads are now getting cleaner and residents will start noticing the difference.”

Can you spot the cycle stands in this picture, taken just off Walthamstow's famous High Street? If so, you could win a free copy of the council's Green Charter, signed by environment supremo Bob Belam!





















Parents, why not give the car a break and let your children walk to school? They can also improve their climbing skills as they make their way over this mountain of crap to Mission Grove School in the background of this photo.




















(Pics taken at the weekend)

Footnote. Cllr Belam gets £10,211.33 annual basic allowance as a councillor, and an additional £21,442.27 'special responsibility allowance' for his environmental work. No wonder he's smiling in all those council photos...

Take a trip on Courtenay Place

This piece of flexible tubing in the pedestrianised section of Courtenay Place E17 makes the perfect trap for blind pedestrians. It's been there for many months and I've blogged about it before. But this Council, which claims to be "positive about disabled people" obviously isn't going to remove it until such time as someone trips over it, injures themselves and either complains to the local paper or demands compensation. It's another example of how detached the council's Green Charter is from the real world.

A blocked Public Footpath in Chingford

The Council’s Green Charter states:

We will review, maintain, and upgrade as appropriate the borough's own statutory network of footpaths; and will encourage recreational walking within and around the borough by promotion and information on local walks.
(Green Charter, p.12)

It’s complete garbage. The council does none of these things. It was obliged by new legislation to provide a definitive statement of its rights of way network and failed to meet the legal deadline. It most definitely does not maintain or upgrade its statutory network of footpaths. It doesn't promote local walks in any meaningful sense and you can't get a map of public footpaths from the council because it has never bothered to publish one. This is a council which churns out Green propaganda by the lorryload but which continues to speak with a forked tongue by purporting to be Green while putting cars, motoring, car dependency and property development first. This council even flouts its statutory obligations to walking:

The Council has a duty to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment of any highway (including Public Rights of way). This means we are obliged to keep rights of way open and useable.

This public footpath on Chingford Avenue E4 (below) provides a short cut to Heathcote Grove and the pathway that leads beside the cemetery to Grove Road. Or it would do if the council hadn’t allowed it to become an inaccessible wilderness of weeds. The council is once again failing in its statutory obligation to keep public footpaths open and is breaking the law.

Councillor Bob Belam is asking residents for ideas on how best to combat climate change. Well, Bob, how about walking down this Public Footpath with a pair of shears?




















(Above) The inaccessible entrance to this Public Footpath on Chingford Avenue. The route of the path turns left at the railings. I didn't venture deep enough into the nettles and briars to check whether or not it has been illegally fenced off but I suspect it may be.

(Below) The public footpath sign on Chingford Avenue.




















(Below) The Heathcote Grove entrance to this same public footpath.




















When it comes to neglect of public footpaths, colluding in their unlawful obstruction and enthusiasm for shutting them down the London Borough of Waltham Forest has a long record (scroll down all the posts here).

40% of public libraries in Waltham Forest have no cycle stands

Two bikes D-locked to a traffic sign outside Harrow Green library


There are eleven public libraries in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. (Whoops! - did I say eleven, I meant ten because St James Street library was abruptly shut down without warning or consultation and local residents have mounted a campaign to re-open it.)

The statistic above would be even bigger if St James Street library was included, because it had no cycle stand provision, even though there’s a very wide pavement right outside it.

Of the ten libraries in the borough, four have no cycle stands at all. They are: Lea Bridge Road library, Wood Street, Higham Hill and Harrow Green. That's an interesting statistic to reflect upon in National Bike Week. Twenty years after the great Waltham Forest GREEN CHARTER, and after all these years of having a cycling officer, the provision of cycle parking in the borough remains patchy and incoherent. Numerous other buildings owned by the Council and used by the public have no cycle parking.

In a central location in a busy shopping area Leytonstone library (below) has just three stands. All in use.

Pavements are for...

Well, not pedestrians, obviously. Pavements, like cycle stands, have innumerable uses.




















Forest Road at the junction with King Edward Road E17. Let’s remind Bob Belam, cabinet member for the environment, that before he comes up with a grand climate change strategy he could start by addressing a few of the very basic things that deter walking and cycling.

So, Bob, here it is yet again. Transport for London’s Walking Plan for London requires local authorities to

Carry out regular inspections of the highway to remove temporary obstructions to the footway e.g. advertising boards and display goods.

The Council’s own Green Charter asserts

We will improve the street environment for pedestrians by ensuring the provision of unobstructed and well protected footways.

And this crap Council does neither.

Another classic

Blind pedestrians crossing Hoe Street at the lights between Station Approach and First Avenue E17 are guided by special tactile paving... to collide with a 'working towards a quality environment' council rubbish bin and a council street sweepings sack.

This Council just can’t get it right

The dropped kerb on Matlock Road E10 at the junction with Peteborough Road.

We will make the street environment more accessible to all, in particular by providing dropped kerbs, tactile paving, and other facilities to meet the special needs of people with disabilities.

That’s a Green Charter pledge I keep going back to.

Full marks to the Council for putting in drop kerbs at junctions. No marks at all for repeatedly failing to ensure that they are properly drained.

The photograph below shows the dropped kerb on Cleveland Park Avenue E17 at the junction with Hatherley Road.

Failing Nick

Apparently the Council's Green Charter dates back to 1989. It was a pioneering statement of intent. Among its aspirations:

We will make the street environment more accessible to all, in particular by providing dropped kerbs, tactile paving, and other facilities to meet the special needs of people with disabilities.

But of course for a statement like that to have any meaning the Council of the time, and successive Councils, should have required an audit of every street, in order to identify problems and implement solutions. And none has done any such thing. Which creates problems for people like Nick Bishop:

I'm a 20-year-old student with cerebral palsy, and I've used a wheelchair all my life.

Lowered kerbs are often nowhere near low enough; frequently, too, they are obstructed by cars.

I'm never quite sure if the pavements will be suitable for my wheelchair.

If Nick Bishop came to the London Borough of Waltham Forest he would find himself facing numerous obstructions. For example: a driveway has at some point been created across the pavement on Erskine Road E17, close to the junction with Melville Road. No consideration has been given to wheelchair users, who are faced by two large kerbs. Nearby is another entrance with similar kerbs. It’s been like that for years. That’s four obstructions in the space of a few yards, rendering the footway unusable for people like Nick Bishop.

Richards Place and Council hypocrisy

The Council has always spoken with a forked tongue when it comes to transport. It claims to want to promote walking and cycling, while it simultaneously pursues policies which promote increased car ownership and use. These are contradictory goals and the second is all too often achieved at the expense of the first.

A particularly glaring and tangible symbol of Council hypocrisy can be found on Richards Place, by the Rose and Crown pub on Hoe Street.

The Green Charter proudly proclaims

We will make the street environment more accessible to all, in particular by providing dropped kerbs to meet the special needs of people with disabilities.

And the Council’s Transport and Pollution Focus Group’s Action Plan asserts a bullet point commitment

To encourage and facilitate walking; to improve facilities and provide safe environments for pedestrians

To reclaim the streets for people

On Richards Place the Council installed a dropped kerb for the benefit of wheelchair users. Excellent! And a useful facility, thoughtfully located alongside the side gate to sheltered accommodation containing elderly people. It put a yellow line there to deter motorists from obstructing it.

It has now moved the ‘no waiting at any time’ lining closer to Hoe Street and extended the footway parking exemption to include the dropped kerb. In other words, it puts accommodating the parking of cars before accommodating the needs of wheelchair users and others with a mobility disability.

(Almost all the parked cars on Richards Place are not residential but associated with a local business which uses this street as a longterm overflow facility for storing vehicles which it has no space for on its premises. If this Council was remotely serious about putting pedestrians first it would get rid of the pavement parking and extend the 'no waiting' restriction. But of course converting pavements into a permanent car park for unused vehicles is entirely consistent with this Council's transport strategy.)