Highgate Neighbourhood Forum response to co-design phase of Dartmouth Park Healthy Neighbourhood proposals by Camden Council
July/Aug 2024
Traffic congestion and pollution have always been key concerns for locals for decades and we welcome Camden’s work to start to address these issues across the borough generally. Also the broader ambition to mitigate the impact of climate change. The HNF welcome the opportunity to input on these proposals which have some good ambitions but also serious implications for the area beyond the scheme.
We believe this process provides an opportunity to develop an alternative series of more focussed, minor schemes to address specific problems initially but within a wider, integrated vision with later phases which will address concerns of the community more widely whilst producing visible benefits across the area for many.
GENERAL POINTS
- Clarity needed on spending implications and timelines with phasing for the scheme
- Information about how this phase of co-design will result in improved proposals and further iterations for consultation and input from the community
- Need for impact studies through computer modelling and acknowledgement of effects to other parts of our transport infrastructure and how this might be mitigated
- In particular, need for consideration of impacts on and therefore future improvements needed to Archway Road, Highgate High Street, Highgate West Hill and Highgate Hill
- Need for larger framing for ideas to show how this scheme links to existing or other future proposals around eg. cycling routes, public realm improvements
- Urgent need for collaboration and links to other councils proposals/plans in particular Haringey for Highgate High Street, Highgate Hill and Archway Road and cross roads affected – this can be a quick mapping exercise at the very least
- Need for Haringey-based businesses and residents to be informed and consulted
- Need for phasing and prioritisation information including impact measurements and mitigation once implemented so changes/iterations can be made
Generally welcome;
Focus on creating safer cycling and pedestrian routes with the aim of reducing short local car journeys increasing safety and reducing pollution.
Other ideas we support include;
- An east-west hoppa bus linking Muswell Hill, Crouch End, Highgate, Dartmouth Park and Hampstead is needed and much work has been done on this proposal by HNF
- Creation of new public realm around the Cemetery and wildlife corridor on Swains Lane (proposal by Growing Green) as part of HNF work on biodiversity corridors more widely
- Whilst constructing the bus lane on Highgate Hill also add rain garden islands to; slow traffic, provide havens for wildlife crossing, aid flood protection, ameliorate pollution
- Creating safer school routes to mitigate traffic problems particularly at school drop-off and pick-up on North Hill and Highgate Hill that will be impacted by the scheme (improvement proposals/work by Anke Boehme)
Key concerns;
- Evidence for proposals and targets for measuring impact/success?
- Possible impact on major routes and also smaller roads including Bisham Gardens, Cholmeley Park and The Grove
- Lack of collaboration with Haringey Council
You can read the full proposal here and have your say here.
Highgate Neighbourhood Forum Committee
They haven’t consulted TfL either. There is the impact on bus routes and the major TfL trunk route, Archway Road.
I object to the Dartmouth Park proposals , as they stand. except for Chetwynd Road ,at some times of day, the area has very little traffic & is not a priority. Extra traffic pressure will make the areas around much less healthy and they are already suffering. Highgate Village , North Road & North Hill [ where there are 4 schools ] cannot take more traffic. It is appalling that traffic will need to pollute Pond Square, an important local green space. Highgate is an historical Conservation Area which already struggles with pollution & traffic. There is a need to work with & consult Haringey, who will be adversely affected by this amateurish scene, for instance in Highgate High Street, part of Highgate Hill, Southwood Lane, North Road & North Hill, Hampstead Lane , the north side of Hornsey Lane, Archway Road, Roads to the east of Archway, and so on. Schemes must be set within the context of the area. boroughs should not be pushing their problems onto other boroughs. The air & traffic do not recognise boundaries.
The traffic calming measures are a great vision and it would be good to integrate coherent cycle pathways in the planning process, so it’s safer to ride with the bike.
While there may well be legitimate concerns around the consultation period and other, process-related elements of the DPHN scheme, the overall aims and rationale deserve full support from anyone living/working in or around the area in question.
Motorists travelling through this area of North London currently enjoy exceptionally unfettered privilege to drive and park almost everywhere without any attempt at restriction. The result? High traffic volumes, high pollution levels, far too much space in the public realm given over to cars and an urban environment that discourages walking and cycling. Not only does this do environmental and economic harm to the area, it puts us far behind those nearby parts of London where traffic restriction measures have long since been implemented and proven to work (Islington, Hackney, Waltham Forest, to name just a few).
Many of the objections I see being trotted out against this scheme are thinly-disguised protests by the car-reliant minority at the prospect of enjoying slightly less privilege than they currently have to pilot 2-tonne SUVs though our small historic streets.
Do not be taken in by them or the culture-wars tropes they often invoke. Instead, look at the facts: there is ZERO evidence that LTNs cause any significant or sustained increase in traffic volumes at their boundaries (or anywhere for that matter). Meanwhile the evidence that they reduce traffic volumes, road fatalities and pollution is incontrovertible.
The only alternative to a low-traffic neighbourhood is a high-traffic neighbourhood. Can anyone reading this say, in good faith, that they want the latter rather than the former?
Rather than scale back this proposal, Camden and Islington should be collaborating with Haringey and seeking to go much, much further.
Ours is a unique and historically significant area with rich architectural heritage and the potential to be so much better than it is now as a place to walk, cycle and spend time (and money) in its public spaces. We should be aiming to lead other London neighbourhoods in positive change rather than lag behind them as we so woefully currently do.