A Council response was requested.
This ePetition ran from 19/11/2019 to 27/01/2020 and has now finished.
863 people signed this ePetition.
From the outset the Council has been keen to engage as many residents as possible in the development of the Lewisham & Lee Green Healthy Neighbourhood scheme. On this basis, upon commencement of the project the Council wrote to 9,000 households to provide background information on the programme objectives and to invite residents/businesses to a number of events so that any transport issues could be raised. These events were run by our community engagement specialists Sustrans. Officers had a positive response to this letter drop, with over 1,500 unique visitors to our website and over 100 people came down to the four workshop events at Manor House Library, held between 5 June and 6 July 2019.
The biggest issues that people raised were the amount of traffic using local residential roads to avoid nearby main roads, as well as the resultant pollution from motor vehicles. Residents identified better pedestrian crossings, more tree planting, more cycle provision and closing roads to through traffic as desirable solutions to the issues raised. The community engagement reports can be found on the dedicated Lewisham & Lee green page listed below.
The Council has developed a DRAFT scheme that it considers tackles many of the issues that were raised during the engagement outlined above. The evolving proposals have been discussed by a working group of residents that was set up at the beginning of the process and at Local Assembly meetings, Local councillors have been door knocking in the local area to speak to residents with residents, and responded to a large number of enquiries by email. The feedback from this further phase of resident engagement has meant that the scheme has been continually evolving over the last few months, as officers take on board some of the useful suggestions that have been raised. Now that the community’s aspirations and concerns for the area have been gauged, officers are carrying out some work with Transport for London, to understand the likely traffic impact of the draft scheme.
The borough is committed to ensuring that as many residents as
possible have a chance to engage in the healthy neighbourhood
programme to help shape proposals as they evolve. In the week
commencing 20th January, the Council sent out a further letter to
12,000 household’s in the area to provide an update on the
programme and include the latest draft plan. The letter also set
out information on the next steps and a full list of FAQs. This
letter will be followed up by a public drop in session, which has
been arranged for 6th February, 1-8pm, Good Sheppard Church Hall,
Handen Road, SE12 8NR where residents can provide feedback on the
draft proposals. An update was given at the Lewisham Central
Assembly on the 16th January and the Lewisham and will be given at
the Lee Green Central Assembly in mid February.
Following discussions with TfL, but before the trial commences, the
following further communications are planned:
• A further letter drop to residents, at least a month
before the trial starts to provide an update on the proposals
• a public drop-in session exhibiting the latest proposals, a
week after the letter drop
• 3 weeks before the trial launch date there will be on-street
signing to inform motorists of the scheme and relevant contact
information
The purpose of the trial is to allow the Council (for a relatively
low cost) to ‘test’ the design to see how it works in
‘real life’ and it also allows us to
‘tweak’ the design if required as all the interventions
during the trial phase will be relatively easy to move. A formal
consultation process will start during the trial which will include
the following:
• Officers will be stewarding key locations in the first week
of the trial to answer public enquiries
• An email address will be available for people to let us know
their initial views of the trial scheme and raise any urgent
matters that need addressing
• A public drop-in session will be organised for half way
through the trial
• A dedicated webpage and consultation questionnaire will then
be launched, seeking final views on the scheme, including the
proposed complementary measures
Responses from the consultation will be analysed, and a proposed
way forward taken to Mayor & Cabinet for decision.
To find out more about the project, please visit http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/HealthyNeighbourhoods.
Residents can stay informed by signing up to the mailing list on
http://www.streetbuilder.io/lewishamandleegreen
or get in touch with officers via email using the following
address: lewishamleegreenhn@lewisham.gov.uk