It’s how you declutter

Published: 3 September, 2010

• IT is clear which road users are being prioritised by the Mayor, Boris Johnson, and his advisors (‘It’s not right to remove lights’, August 27).

Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London’s transport advisor, says: “There are few things more annoying than sitting at a traffic light on red for no apparent reason.” Perhaps he should consider how “annoying” it is for an elderly person who can’t cross the road safely, and for those involved in collisions at these crossing points?

It’s all very well to talk about removing clutter from streets but in this case the Mayor has only half the story.

Decluttering can lead to a reduction in accidents, but only when it is carefully planned along with input from the community and where other steps are taken to encourage pedestrians and remove the “car is king” mindset.

This scheme is totally at odds with the decluttering philosophy of giving the streets back to pedestrians.

The Green Party has taken one step in the process of rebalancing our streets by pushing through the new 20mph limits.

We do hope that the Mayor’s harebrained scheme is not a step backwards.

CAROLINE RUSSELL
Islington Green Party