Read on Twitter
Happy Saturday everyone! Here's some thoughts for the weekend on ownership…
Who owns our streets? Our neighbourhoods? Who was the right to make changes? To plant trees? Chop down trees? Add parking? Add green space? And...who should have that right? /1
Who owns our streets? Our neighbourhoods? Who was the right to make changes? To plant trees? Chop down trees? Add parking? Add green space? And...who should have that right? /1
Over the past decades residents and communities have slowly lost control of the neighbourhoods they live in. We see it in big decisions - that development locals didn’t want - and we see it in the small ones - that patch of ground that could be so much more, yet sits empty /2
Our campaign passionately believes in access to green space for all Londoners. We believe in the positive impact green space has for mental health, for pollution, and for our climate. But most of all, we believe in communities taking back control of the streets they live on /3
So what does that mean in practice? Let’s talk about Mayton Street, Holloway - in the borough of Islington. One of London’s most progressive boroughs with ambitious targets to go carbon neutral. Yet when locals put a few plants out to create some green space, it didn’t go well /4
The Council came in hard. Breaches of the Highways Act. A need for expensive liability insurance (for up to £10m!). Discussions were had. Sense has prevailed. But the annual cost to residents? £676!
https://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/islington-council-reviews-cost-of-road-planter-scheme-3842604 /5
https://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/islington-council-reviews-cost-of-road-planter-scheme-3842604 /5
To put that £676 in perspective, if they’d have put an average family car in that spot, the permit would have cost £150-200 (and a zero emissions car like that zero emissions park? £0!). Now those costs quite aren’t like for like, but you see the point here 6/
If a street wants to create a community space with some green space - something positive for the area - it’ll cost them more than if they just parked a car in that very space all year without moving it with no benefit to anyone /7
Two things are deeply wrong here. 1) We are penalising people doing positive things. 2) We’ve taken away control from local people for their street. If locals people want to put a bench and some plants in an underused parking space, what’s wrong with that? /8
It gets worse. Why didn’t they do it in a legal all official way to avoid this mess? Because there isn’t one. There’s a process and a system to park a car on your street. To plant a tree or a bench? Nothing. There is no official London process to make your neighbourhood better /9
This can’t be right. We need a city wide, standard way of doing this. If the residents of Romford or Richmond or Rayners Lane want to plant a tree, a bench, make a parklet - they should be able to and boroughs should support them for doing something positive /10
So this is what we’re campaigning for. Yes to parklets. Yes to trees. Yes to green space. But yes to so much more. Reclaiming our streets for our communities, for good /11
Want to join us? Keen to help build a better, greener, more community centred future? Get in touch. It’s never too late to change a little bit of the world. /End
P.S. For @willnorman, @RichardWatts01 - and every other Mayor, Councillor, community leader or Londoner who reads this thread. We'd love to talk. And we'd love to help build a better London with you.
