Kensington Palace Gardens residents objected to Quietway because "the masses" would compromise their security

Residents of London’s most expensive road objected to its becoming part of one of London’s cycling Quietways on the grounds that use of the road by “the masses” would somehow compromise security.

Kensington Palace Gardens, gated at either end, runs north to south from Bayswater Road to Kensington High Street. One of the most expensive residential streets in the world, it is the location of the Russian and Israeli embassies, among others, while residents include the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and oligarch Roman Abramovich.

A planned Quietway which would have made use of the road was scrapped in July and there will now be a gap of half a mile on the Crown Estates-owned road.

Kensington and Chelsea council and Transport for London (TfL) received 15 responses to the consultation, including “several respondents (who) referred to the Quietway proposal posing security risks, unspecified”.

Residents’ letters about the Quietway have been released to the London Evening Standard under the Freedom of Information Act, with names and addresses redacted.

One wrote: “The residents on this private road should not be responsible for the use of the masses. Open use of this private roadway by the masses will cede its exclusivity and surrender its security.”

Another said: “Those who already use the cut-through... are oblivious to the dismount notices and feel the right to pedal through, causing pedestrians to move and young mums with buggies to move out of the way. This is annoying to all, residents and visitors alike, we pay for the upkeep of this private road… in our high council tax and expect to keep the standards of privacy this brings us.”

We have previously reported how the road is not currently off-limits to those on bikes, who can access it round the clock – unlike drivers. However, one letter writer said they wanted to go further and prevent all cyclists from using the road in the future, while another wrote that there were “far too many cyclists on the roadway as it is,” calling for “a blanket ban”.