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Public questions – Bromley Council Environment Committee, 22 November 2022

Questions from the Public for Oral Response:

1) Kelsey Park Bridge. Can the Council clarify why there have been so many delays and periods with no action being taken since the first bridge closed in February 2021?

When the bridges were first closed in 2021, initial investigations by the Council’s contractor idverde did identify certain options for replacement bridges, however on further investigation it became apparent that the process for replacing the bridges would be significantly more complex than was originally anticipated. Resources were approved to take this work forward, and subsequent stages have been completed as quickly as possible in compliance with the council’s processes for robust governance. This has included:

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ULEZ motion in Bromley Council

On Monday 18 July at 7pm, a meeting of the full Council (all 58 councillors) will take place in London Borough of Bromley. One of the items that will be discussed is a motion which calls on Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to abandon his plans to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). The text of the motion can be found below. We encourage Bromley residents to do two things:

  1. Submit questions to the Portfolio Holders for Transport (Cllr Bennett) and Environment (Cllr Cuthbert) around this motion which they are moving. Do this by sending an email to committee.services@bromley.gov.uk, including a 50 word question on ULEZ (see below for more ideas about questions to ask), and explain your question is for the Council meeting on Monday 18 July. Questions must be received by 5pm on Tuesday 12 July.
  2. Use this link to reply to the consultation on the expansion of the ULEZ.

The text of the motion is as follows:

“This Council supports the objective of improving air quality and to this end has published a comprehensive Air Quality Action Plan 2020-2025 with a matrix of twenty-five actions. The Council is committed to ensuring that its operation is carbon net zero by 2027. In addition, a further 5,000 trees are being planted on the borough’s roads to add to the existing 36,000. We are also continuing our rollout of LED street lighting, installing new electric charge points, and investing in renewable energy. The Council, however, disagrees strongly with the proposal to extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to outer London by August 2023. Bromley is, geographically, the largest London Borough, and contains many rural areas which have little public transport and where, unlike inner London, residents are dependent on their cars. The Council is particularly concerned about the impact on the self-employed, small businesses which rely on their vehicles to conduct their trade and on elderly residents and others on fixed incomes. Already facing substantial increases in fuel costs, the imposition of a daily charge to drive in the borough will be an additional financial burden and, for many, without the means purchase a compliant vehicle, it will mean they can no longer trade or afford to drive. The imposition of the ULEZ charge on motorists, including those entering Bromley from neighbouring counties will also be detrimental, especially for those like nurses, police officers, supermarket shelf fillers and others working anti-social hours when public transport is not available. The Council therefore calls on Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, to abandon his plans to extend the ULEZ.”

Some questions

  1. When will Bromley Council report on progress made against the matrix of 25 actions contained in the Council’s Air Quality Action Plan, and will the Council consider introducing targets to this plan in order to measure progress?
  2. National Travel Survey statistics indicate the most common purpose for a trip by car was for leisure (30%) in 2020. Given that these trips negatively impact other residents (e.g. 23% Bromley households with no car), how does Bromley Council propose to reduce those trips?
  3. Just 2 A roads in Bromley Borough are the responsibility of TfL, and yet page 3 of Bromley Council’s Air Quality Action Plan states that the majority of Bromley’s busy A roads are the responsibility of TfL. Please comment.
  4. We need to halve emissions by 2030 to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. The Council’s own calculations indicate Bromley’s 5000 extra trees will reduce borough emissions by 0.008% after 30 years. If not ULEZ, then what methods will Bromley Council use to reduce the borough’s emissions?
  5. In the past decade, vehicle miles travelled in Bromley borough increased from 800 million to a billion. If not ULEZ, then what methods will Bromley Council use to reduce congestion and carbon emissions and air pollution from transport?

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School Streets Showdown in Bromley

Road Open Sign, Correx - Brightkidz % road open sign
Source: https://brightkidz.co.uk/product/road-open-sign-correx/

A special meeting of Bromley Council’s Environment Committee will be held at 9am on Friday 15 July 2022. This meeting has one agenda item: the future of School Streets in London Borough of Bromley. If you’re a Bromley resident, do this now:

  1. Send an email to committee.services@bromley.gov.uk, including a 50 word question on School Streets (see below for more ideas about questions to ask), and explain your question is for the Environment Committee meeting on Friday 15 July. Questions must be received by 5pm on Monday 11 July.
  2. Write to your councillors (your elected representatives in local government) today to ask them why Bromley came 27th out of 33 London Boroughs in the 2022 Healthy Streets Scorecard (published on 5 July 2022), and what they intend to do about it. If one of your councillors is Cllr Thomas Turrell (councillor for Hayes and Coney Hall), you might want to ask him why he didn’t voice his support for Hayes Primary School Street at the Environment Committee meeting on 21 June, given that this School Street is in his ward, and he was present at the meeting.
  3. If you’re free 9am til 10am on Friday 15 July, fill out this form to register to attend the Environment Committee meeting on School Streets. We’ll see you there.

Why now?

At the Environment meeting on 21 June, a fractious debate took place over the council’s review of School Streets. On 24 June, Cllr Nicholas Bennett (Portfolio Holder for Transport) decided Bromley Council will not actively roll out School Streets in the borough. The following Friday (1 July), Bromley Labour and Bromley Liberal Democrats both independently “called in” this decision. This means the decision goes back to the Environment Committee to reconsider. This is happening on Friday 15 July, and that’s why we hope as many Bromley residents as possible will submit questions to this meeting or attend it in person.

What happens at a call in?

A “call in” meeting revisits a decision made by Bromley Council. Historically, call in meetings in Bromley provide a valuable opportunity to show the strength of feeling on an issue. For example, the call in meeting on the decision to relocate Beckenham Library took place during working hours on a weekday, but the public gallery was packed.

It is worth noting that it is not only opposition parties who call in decisions. For example, Bromley Conservative councillors previously called in a decision on the Crofton Road cycle way.

What is a School Street?

You can find out more by clicking one of these links:

Bromley Living Streets’ briefing on school streets

Mums for lungs

Living Streets

http://schoolstreets.org.uk/

Questions that can be submitted by residents to the call in meeting

  1. ANPR camera enforcement is used for all School Streets in Islington (where 49% of schools have School Streets), Hackney (45%), and Bromley’s neighbour Lewisham. Bromley hasn’t trialled ANPR for School Streets, on grounds of cost, but elsewhere ANPR cameras generate revenue. Will Bromley Council now trial ANPR for School Streets?
  2. Bromley has the highest % of trips made by car in the whole of London at 53%, and a target within the Mayor’s Transport Strategy to reduce this to 40%. Given the School Streets decision, can the Portfolio Holder now provide an indication of how this target will be reached?

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Now the elections are over, what next for safer walking and cycling in Bromley?

The local elections brought in a number of new councillors to represent wards across Bromley. As shown below, the main changes were Liberal Democrat councillors in Beckenham Town & Copers Cope and Bromley Town, Labour councillors in Plaistow and St Mary Cray, and the independent party Chislehurst Matters in Chislehurst. Bromley remains Conservative-controlled with a majority of 14 councillors. Many wards that remained Conservative also had new ward councillors selected. 

What does this mean for ongoing community-led efforts to improve the safety and liveability of our streets? The good news is that many new councillors take a supportive stance on safer streets, air pollution, encouraging walking and cycling, and climate change. Moreover, the range of councillors elected promises vibrant debate on many topics.

CLEAN AIR
Bromley Liberal Democrats supported Mums for Lungs election pledges, which included a call for a clean air cabinet member, a diesel-free borough by 2030, advocacy to phase out wood burning and the goal of delivering a School Street at every school by 2025 (with an alternative package of road safety measures where temporary road closures are not feasible).

SUPPORT FOR CYCLING
Bromley Liberal Democrats, Bromley Labour, Bromley Greens and Chislehurst Matters all supported Bromley Cyclists’ call for the development and implementation of an active travel strategy designed to increase the cycling trip share in Bromley from 1.8% to 5% by 2026/7. While the Conservatives did not provide a formal endorsement, Councillor Michael Tickner (Beckenham Town & Copers Cope ward) crucially acknowledged by email that: “safe cycle-friendly infrastructure has to be provided first in order for more people to take up cycling, not the other way round”. 

CLIMATE ACTION
Bromley Liberal Democrats, Bromley Labour and Bromley Green Party supported a coalition of community and faith-based groups calling for Bromley Council to declare a climate emergency and produce a plan to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for all activities across the borough. Climate action, active travel and road safety are tightly-linked issues as reaching net-zero will require a large shift towards walking, cycling and public transport use in Bromley.

In addition to this, all parties covered issues related to air quality, safer streets and more support for walking and cycling for all, such as the lack of a safe crossing at Chislehurst War Memorial, the lack of safe crossings on South Eden Park Road, and concerns over safety raised in the 2020 School Travel Survey conducted by Bromley Living Streets.

So what changes can we expect to see, and how can local communities support all ward councillors to give Bromley residents more sustainable travel choices and cleaner air? In this blog post we set out four priorities for change and four things that you can do to support councillors.

FOUR PRIORITIES FOR ACTION

1. Safe pedestrian crossings
Local centres across Bromley should have pedestrian crossings – either zebra or signalised crossings – to create safe walking routes to local parks, schools, high streets, and public facilities. These routes should be provided pro-actively, instead of waiting for a minimum number of casualties to justify a crossing at any given location.

2. A cycle network
Bromley lacks a joined-up network of separated cycle lanes across the borough, which is a major barrier to cycling for many residents. A network of protected cycle lanes connecting local centres across the borough will make it safer to switch to cycling as a low-cost travel option that reduces air pollution, congestion, and increases daily exercise.

3. Measures to reduce speeding
Until now Bromley Council has only taken limited action on speeding, often deferring responsibility to the Metropolitan Police and installing advisory warning signs that make only minimal difference to driver behaviour. Traffic calming measures should be introduced to reduce vehicle speeds and improve road safety.

4. School Streets
A School Street is a temporary restriction on motor vehicle traffic outside schools during drop-off and pick-up hours, to improve air quality and traffic safety at the school gate, and encourage parents to walk or cycle instead of driving. Over 500 School Streets have been introduced in London, mostly since the start of the pandemic. Bromley Council received funding from TfL for 11 School Streets but only six have been implemented so far.

FOUR WAYS TO ACTIVELY SUPPORT CHANGE

1. Make your voice heard
Your ward councillors are accountable to you, and you can write to them to ask for stronger action to make it safer to walk and cycle locally. Walking and cycling schemes can be sensitive when they impact things like on-street parking or right-of-way for drivers, so it’s important that councillors hear from those supporting change. You can copy your local residents’ association and Bromley Living Streets in on correspondence with councillors. Additionally, you can submit questions to Bromley Council to raise concerns at its Environment Committee public meeting. You can also subscribe to newsletters from Bromley Living Streets to stay up to date.

2. Start small
Alongside campaigns calling for safer streets, we can also push for change by working with the organisations and groups to which we are already connected. Reach out to your child’s school to ask about setting up a School Street, or work with your local church, faith group, community organisation or sports club to encourage and enable people to walk, cycle or take public transport to meetings or activities where possible.

3. Leadership from community and business organisations
Many organisations are reluctant to take openly political positions, however, this doesn’t mean you cannot give general support to measures that would improve road safety, air quality, and enable active travel. Moreover, as a key local stakeholder you could also contribute to shape how new schemes are designed and implemented to ensure that they meet local needs. For businesses this also makes good financial sense: more walkable streets are important to the local economy, pedestrians and cyclists spend 40% more in local shops than those travelling by car, and unsafe levels of air pollution are beginning to have a negative impact on property values.

4. Don’t give up!
Unfortunately, these changes won’t happen overnight. Continued support is needed from residents to encourage councillors to support safer streets, and hold them to account if they don’t deliver on their commitments.

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Last Environment Committee meeting before the local elections!

Photo taken on Farnaby Road, Shortlands

Can you spare 5 minutes today to send a question to Bromley Council Environment Committee? Questions need to be submitted by 5pm on 7 March to be accepted for the committee meeting on 21 March – full details of how to submit questions can be found here, and information about the meeting can be found here. 

We in Bromley Living Streets think that asking questions to the Environment Committee is a very valuable way to let the Council know what matters to local people – particularly important to do, given that local elections are taking place on 5 May 2022. Environment Committee meetings are the place where Bromley Council’s projects and policies are scrutinised, and members of the public raising issues in this forum is an important part of local democracy and a key way of encouraging local councillors to take action. There are reasons to think that this part of Bromley’s local democracy is looking increasingly healthy and vigorous: 100 written public questions were answered in the November 2021 Environment meeting, and 68 written public questions were answered in the January 2022 Environment meeting. (Important context here is that a large proportion of those submitted to the November 2021 were on a single issue.)

So what should you ask questions about? That’s up to you, but we think a particularly useful starting point for drafting a question is to look at the Council’s response to questions asked in recent Environment committee meetings, and think about what new questions are raised by the Council’s response. some ideas you might want to consider. For example, in the ‘Written Questions from the Public’ document for the Environment meeting on 19 January 2022, the Council’s response to the first question provides detailed figures on the School Travel Plan (STARS) scheme and Bikeability training, but does not provide figures for the increase in walking and cycling during the period between 2020 and 2021. A useful follow-up question would be to ask for these figures, particularly given that recent data indicates that 32% of the borough’s emissions come from transport, which is relatively high for a London borough. (Another useful follow-up question would be to ask for evidence to support the Council’s claim that the increase in walking and cycling between 2020 and 2021 “was influenced by LBB’s Road Safety Education programme, School Travel Planning Initiatives and Cycle training”.)

Feel free to Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) us into your email when you submit your questions, or forward your submitted questions to us after sending them to committee.services@bromley.gov.uk, so that we are aware of the issues that have been raised.

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Campaigning events this week (11 weeks until local elections!)

Tree on car. Photo taken on Bromley Road on 18 February 2022.

As Storm Eunice rages around us, here are some events happening this week which can help you consider how active travel (and related environmental and climate issues) could and should be an area of focus in the local elections on 5 May:

  1. Climate Emergency UK are running two sessions explaining how to use the Council Climate Plan Scorecards they launched at the end of January. One session is on Tuesday 22 February 12-1pm, the other is Thursday 24 February 6-7pm (register here). 
  2. Mums for Lungs are running a webinar on School Streets on Thursday 24 February at 8pm (register here): this is a chance to find out more about School Streets and how to campaign for one, which is well worth doing, not least because Bromley has very few school streets compared to many other London boroughs.
  3. Playing Out are running a webinar on the impact of play streets on active travel, with Chris Boardman as a special guest, on Wednesday 23 February at 2pm (register here). This topic is particularly timely in London Borough of Bromley, as the Portfolio Holder for the Environment (Cllr Huntington-Thresher) recently replied to a question from a resident with the statement that Bromley Council “does not support the concept of Play Streets as such” (response to question 3, here).
  4. If you’re thinking “I’m busy next week but I wonder if there’s anything interesting happening the week after that?” then you might want to consider attending the Council meeting on Monday 28 February (details here), where agenda item 4 includes three petitions relevant to active travel, on (1) Orpington Town Centre, (2) Road Safety at Chislehurst War Memorial Junction, and (3) Climate Emergency.
  5. Finally…if attending virtual meetings doesn’t do it for you, you might want to check out https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/localgroupresources for useful templates, guides, ideas and resources for campaigning.

Stay safe!

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New Year, New Environment Committee Meeting!

Happy New Year! Can you spare 5 minutes today to send a question to Bromley Council Environment Committee? There’s no time to lose: questions need to be submitted by 5pm on 5 January to be accepted for the committee meeting on 19 January – full details of how to submit questions can be found here, and information about the meeting can be found here. 

Bromley Council’s Environment and Community Services PDS Committee examines executive decisions and reviews policy on transport (highways development, traffic, road safety and parking), street services, waste and recycling and parks and open spaces. We in Bromley Living Streets think that asking questions to the Environment Committee is a very valuable way to let the Council know what matters to local people – particularly important to do now, given that local elections are taking place on 5 May 2022. Environment Committee meetings are the place where Bromley Council’s projects and policies are scrutinised, and members of the public raising issues in this forum is an important part of local democracy and a key way of encouraging local councillors to take action.

So what should you ask questions about? That’s up to you, but we have some ideas you might want to consider. Below we present some ideas for questions relating to active travel and safe streets across the borough, including pedestrian crossings, air pollution, school streets, speed limits, Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) statistics and COP26. We also encourage you to look at the Council’s Environment Matters newsletter (available here) and take this opportunity to ask the Council for clarification or evidence on the topics and claims contained in the newsletter.

Feel free to Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) us into your email when you submit your questions, or forward your submitted questions to us after sending them to committee.services@bromley.gov.uk, so that we are aware of the issues that have been raised.

Potential topics and questions:

Pedestrian crossings

  1. Bromley’s Air Quality Action Plan was approved at the November 2021 Environment Committee meeting. On the final page of Appendix A, under “Reducing emissions from transport”, it is stated that a target for the number of new pedestrian crossings will be established – when, and based on what evidence?

Air pollution

  1. Bromley’s Air Quality Action Plan (approved in November 2021) claims no schools in Bromley are exposed to NO2 concentrations that exceed annual limits (page 8). Maps available on the London Air website suggest otherwise. Please set out all the evidence, with references where appropriate, upon which this claim is made.

School Streets

  1. In July 2021, 500+ School Streets were in place across London. Bromley Council’s website states the borough has 4, but it’s now 3. Given demand from Bromley parents, and evidence of health benefits, road danger reduction, and improved independent mobility for children, will the Council commit to more trials now?
  2. What would be the cost of one ANPR vehicle to provide enforcement of Bromley School Streets, for one hour at start and finish of the school day for the entire Spring term, and could this cost be covered by the money Bromley Council received from TfL to provide School Streets?
  3. The Portfolio Holder has previously stated the three schools on Hawksbrook Lane “were very keen” to have a School Street, but this has not been installed due to “the potential number of vehicle movements which still could occur”.  Please provide the evidence base that informed this decision.

Speed limits

  1. In response to previous questions, the Portfolio Holder stated the borough’s experience is that drivers who ignore 30mph limits ignore lower speed limits, and drivers are much more likely to change behaviour where reduced speeds are advised near a clear hazard or justification. Please provide evidence to support this.
  2. In a Council meeting on 6 December 2021, Councillor Tickner described 20mph speed limits as “socialist”. Does the Portfolio Holder agree with this characterisation?

Net carbon zero target

  1. The ‘COP26 Special Edition’ of Environment Matters states that “Bromley has always been London’s greenest borough and we have one of the most ambitious net carbon zero targets in the Capital.” Please set out all the evidence, with references where appropriate, upon which this claim is made.

Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) statistics

  1. The latest edition of Environment Matters states the 28% reduction in Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) casualties in 2020 is “perhaps partly explained” by “lockdown”. Would the Portfolio Holder agree that it is very likely that the 19% reduction in vehicle miles travelled in the borough is a factor? (19% figure calculated using DfT statistics from 2019 and 2020, available here)

Please do get in touch with any questions, suggestions, feedback, or if you’d like us to put you in touch with other Bromley Living Streets members living in your neighbourhood.

Best wishes for the New Year from Bromley Living Streets

Graffiti on a tree in Church House Gardens, Bromley. Photo by Brendan.
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Bromley Living Streets launch – June 2019

Bromley Living Streets is a group of residents campaigning for safer, quieter, low-traffic neighbourhoods which encourage healthier walking, cycling and cleaner air. It is affiliated to “Living Streets”, the UK charity for everyday walking.

Bromley Living Streets’ inaugural event drew over 70 people to Bromley Central Library on Monday 3rd June, 2019. 

Catherine Maguire from the Clean Air Parents’ Network spoke about how poor air quality can lead to health problems – particularly the impact on children.  Councillor Will Harmer and Alexander Baldwin-Smith (senior transport planner in Bromley) updated the meeting on Bromley Council’s policy, Jeremy Leach from London Living Streets spoke on the positive impact of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (groups of residential streets where ‘cut-through’ traffic is discouraged), and Annie Miller from Sustrans stressed the importance of community engagement.   The wide range of questions and issues raised showed the importance of holding such events to engage residents with a sense of ownership of such improvement projects.  A number of innovative ideas were raised, showing the appetite for improvement.

Bromley Living Streets chair, Dr Brendan Donegan, said of the event “I was hugely excited to see so many people turn up for the event.   In recent years, Bromley has taken great strides in making streets safer and more attractive for those on foot.  The successful Shortlands Liveable Neighbourhood bid and the town centre scheme in Beckenham shows that people and not just cars are valued in Bromley. I believe this event will be the start of so much more”

Bromley Living Streets will be looking for interested residents to work on the next part of the campaign.

Any reader interested in setting up a Low Traffic Neighbourhood in their ward,  contact Bromley Living Streets on Bromleygroup@livingstreets.org.uk, or via the contact form on this website.