Caroline Allen, Islington vet and Green Party candidate for the London Assembly, is taking the campaign for safer speed limits on main roads in Islington to the council.
On Thursday 6 October, Caroline will deliver a petition signed by Islington residents calling for 20mph speed limits on Essex and New North Roads to the council meeting at Islington Town Hall.
Allen said: "Islington residents deserve safer streets, and extending the successful and popular 20mph limit to these main roads will help those in our neighbourhoods feel more confident about making journeys on foot, by bike or by public transport, reducing congestion on our roads.
"Islington is a borough with very little green space, so it is critical our streets are designed for people and not just as corridors for moving vehicles."
At 7.15 pm Caroline will be joined by supporters ahead of the meeting to highlight the strength of feeling on this issue and raise awareness.
In 2010, Green councillor, Katie Dawson successfully negotiated a budget amendment to extend 20 mph speed limits to all residential streets in the borough. Implementation is now completed, creating a safer, calmer and more pleasant street environment for all residents living on these roads.
Islington Green Party is now campaigning to extend the benefits of 20mph limits to all principal roads, and Allen is making the demand an important part of her campaign for election in the North East constituency for the London Assembly elections, which includes Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest.
20mph limits have been found by the Transport Research Laboratory to decrease child pedestrian accidents by up to 70%. In addition, noise and pollution is reduced, making streets more sociable, pleasant and accessible.
Speed limits in Britain are on average 60% higher than the rest of Europe (30mph compared to 18.6mph according to the ‘20’s Plenty for Us’ campaign group, with far fewer British children being allowed to walk or cycle to school.
The EU European Road Safety Observatory says that Britain has the highest percentage of pedestrian road fatalities in Europe (22.5%), and more than half of road deaths and serious injuries occur on roads with 30mph limits.
Notes
1. Last week Green MEP Keith Taylor successfully argued for 20mph limits to be the EU Parliament’s recommended default speed limit in residential areas and on all one-lane roads in urban areas, recognising the multiple benefits that slower speeds bring to communities living in cities.
2. For information on the benefits of 20mph see Living Streets at www.livingstreets.org.uk/take-action/20_mph/ and Twenty’s Plenty for Us at www.20splentyforus.org.uk/
3. The London Green Party’s candidate for the London mayoral election is Jenny Jones.
4. The party currently has two London Assembly Members: Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson.
5. Membership of the London Green Party doubled between the mayoral election in May 2008 and September 2011.
6. The party has eleven candidates for the Assembly elections. You can find the list here: http://tinyurl.com/greencandidates
7. The party is also standing candidates in the 14 Assembly constituencies across London.
8. The Green Party of England and Wales promotes the policies of ecological sustainability, a fairer more stable economy, a more equal society, a higher standard of democracy and accountability of politicians to the communities they serve, and social justice on the global level as well as in our own country.
9. Caroline Lucas became the UK’s first Green MP in the 2010 General Election.
10. The Green Party is now the largest party on Brighton and Hove Council.