TRANSPORT & STREET SCENE 2021

MHFGA 2021 ANNUAL REPORT

Bus Stops

Broadway Bus Stops that were moved at the beginning of the Covid 19 Epidemic to facilitate social distancing are now back in their original positions outside Waitrose and HSBC Bank.

Controlled Parking Zones

The CPZ’s for

  • North Fortis Green and Muswell Hill Central
  • Muswell Hill West covering, inter alia, Kings, Queens and Princes Avenues and Fortis Green Road

are in the final stages of the Council approval process and should be implemented during the summer.

Electric Charging Points

As part of the council’s action plan to promote and encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, they are considering all options available to increase the number of Electric Vehicles charging points/bays in the borough. These are managed by various companies, which come with their own fees for charging. These include:

  • on-street standard charging point
  • lamp column charging points, and
  • rapid charging points

At present there are a total of 59 charging points in the borough. There are 5 in Muswell Hill and 1 in Fortis Green (with 2 bays).

Other Issues

There are two matters located outside our area which have, or may have, a significant impact on Members:

East Finchley Cycle Lane

The new cycle lanes introduced between East Finchley Station and North Finchley at a cost of £500,000 are a delight for the very few members of the cycling fraternity that use them, but not very helpful for the elderly, disabled, others who have no option but to use motorised transport, and the Emergency Services who are all caught up in the congestion and the attendant pollution. The elimination of parking spaces is badly affecting the retail trade in East Finchley.

This is a Barnet matter, but it has a significant impact on our Members travelling in and out of East Finchley. I made representations on behalf of the Association to Barnet and to the MP for East Finchley. This was the reply from the Council:

The scheme is a temporary measure to support safe local travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) Government’s emergency active travel fund.

The measures were introduced on an experimental basis for a maximum of 18 months. During this period it is anticipated that it will allow residents time to assess the measures’ effectiveness and allow officers to consider how well the scheme is working.

The first six months of the experimental order is the formal Statutory consultation period which is due to end in March/April.  We will then continue to monitor the scheme and introduce, where necessary, changes to the design reflecting feedback.  All comments received on the implemented measures will be used to determine whether to make it permanent, with or without modification or to remove.

The Council will provide a written response confirming the outcome of the decision to all parties who submitted a comment during the consultation period.  

Justice Lang in the High Court ruled on January 20th that London’s ‘Streetspace’ scheme was ‘seriously flawed’ and ‘took advantage of the pandemic’ to push through ‘radical’ and permanent changes to London’s roads. However, TfL, insist they will keep the make-shift cycle lanes while they appeal the judgment.

Mike Freer MP made similar representations.

Brownlow Road Closure Proposal

This is another traffic management scheme that will seriously impact our Members, even though it is managed by Enfield Council. Funding has been received from TfL. This will involve the closure, except for emergency vehicles, buses, cycles and pedestrians, of Brownlow Rd which is a major link between Muswell Hill, and especially Alexandra Ward, to the North Circular Rd (A406). The Consultation closed on May 2 2021.

To prevent problems for other local roads, design and consultation will need to be closely coordinated with Haringey Council, which has also received funding for LTNs in the Bounds Green area, and with Transport for London.

Anthony Wells, Transport/Highway
transport@mhfga.org