Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, has welcomed a controversial proposal for parking charges to be introduced at two of London’s Royal Parks.
The charity believes that making motorists pay to park at Richmond and Bushy Parks in South West London would lead to more people walking or riding bikes to get to there, instead of taking their cars, which would ease traffic congestion as well as promoting active travel options.
Richmond Park lies on National Cycle Network Route 4, which also runs close to Bushy Park, and Sustrans is improving links for cyclists and walkers to both green spaces through developing new routes.
Plans to introduce parking charges at the parks were announced last month by Minister for Culture and Tourism, Margaret Hodge, as part of a number of changes to Royal Parks Regulations which are due to be introduced later this year. Proposed charges at Richmond Park, which is hugely popular with commuter, leisure and competitive cyclists, will range from £1 for one hour up to £3 for three hours, while a lower tariff is proposed at Bushy Park.
Because of their Royal Park status, legislation is needed to implement the charges, and opponents to the scheme, including environmental campaigner and prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith, are hopeful that proceedings can be held up long enough in Parliament to ensure that the proposals are shelved as a result of the general election.
Carl Pittam, Director of Sustrans in London , backed the proposals, however, saying: “The high levels of traffic in and around the parks, particularly Richmond Park, has a negative effect both on park users and residents, so this kind of measure is necessary to protect the park environment and to encourage people towards more healthy and environmentally-friendly forms of transport.
“Around 40 per cent of people across London do not have access to a car, so making the London parks accessible and useable by bike, foot or public transport, should be the priority to make them an experience that can be enjoyed by all,” he added.
“Richmond is already a special place in terms of its walking and cycling levels, which shows that people are already willing to travel in active ways,” he continued, saying: “But if those levels are to increase even further, and if Boris Johnson's goal of developing the culture of cycling in the outer London boroughs is to be achieved, then action needs to be taken.”
Sustrans says that Richmond already has higher-than-average levels of cycling and walking compared to other Outer London Boroughs, with 4% of journeys undertaken by bike and one in three on foot, while car usage is below average.
Slight amendment - it will degrade into smaller pieces, but that's not the same thing as biodegrading.
Ah well. Lets hope the next cycling rights deal implodes for the ASO when TNT claim there is no market....
I quite liked the changes. I liked parking parallel to the road as I have a camper van so could sit with the side door open to the sea. ...
I think that's a problem in general with journalists - most of the time they're just copying press releases or simply repeating quotes without...
They found robust association between cycling and reduced all cause mortality as you say mdavidford.the opposite of what is reported....
Wait a few months and you'll likely found them deeply discounted on Sportpursuit.
I remember driving through rural France many years ago and as the road entered a village or town (not all, but some) there was cut out of a child...
They were, however, calling for the total destruction of Northern Ireland as a country, the permanent removal of (what they saw as) an "invader"...
I've got dynamos running B&M StVZO compliant lights. They are bright, but they have a hard upper cut-off so they don't dazzle. They light up...
Do we really need a rehash of a previous article that is only a few days old? Slow day?