This proposal includes banning traffic from high profile Royal Parks such as Hyde Park. Jenny will launch the campaign when she opens a showcase scheme this Sunday, which restricts traffic from Dulwich Park.
“The last place we should be having cars roaring through are our parks and open spaces. Parks should be places of peace and tranquillity where we can get away from the dirt and grime of everyday life” Jenny comments.
Jenny has named six parks in London that are examples where roads can be closed. She will be writing to the parks authorities asking them to close some of the roads in these parks.
Jenny will also send them research which shows how traffic endangers children, kills animals, contributes to climate change, and all but ruins the peaceful nature of our parklands.
“The Dulwich park scheme will ensure the park becomes a traffic-free oasis. But there are 50 other parks in London with roads carrying huge volumes of traffic, and I am determined that London’s councils examine how these parks can also be closed to traffic.” said Jenny.
“Most of our parks were laid out by the Victorians or protected then by acts of parliament. It was a time when carriage drives really only accommodated horse drawn carriages. If there was mass car ownership when parks were laid out, it is inconceivable that any parks would have been left open to private motor traffic.
Yet motorists today are taking advantage of legislation which has not kept pace with the number of cars in regular use.”
“I’m aware that park authorities are wary of taking on the so called motoring lobby because they fear the outcry from drivers who seem all but addicted to their cars.
I aim to put this issue on the public agenda so the authorities can deal with this issue with determination and commitment.” Jenny concluded.
Jenny Jones is our candidate for London Mayor 2012. For more information on her campaign, please visit www.jennyforlondon.org
NOTES FOR EDITORS
· The six parks are Hyde Park; Friary Park in Barnet, Ealing Common, Queens Wood in Highgate, Elthorne Park in Islington, and Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets.
· The report ‘Banning Traffic for London’s Parks’ puts forward the arguments for closing park roads to traffic and also proposes tight traffic management plans to ensure traffic isn’t displaced onto nearby streets. Jenny is asking the parks authorities to exempt buses and emergency vehicles, and to continue to allow vehicles to access properties in parks.
· The £300,000 Dulwich Park scheme involves closing the roads in the park and building a car park. The opening ceremony will be on Saturday November 15 at 3pm at the College Road Gate to the park.
ENDS