Westminster City Council's new City Plan

[LinusR]

Westminster City council has just published its new City Plan which will shape the "Heart of London" for years to come. The Tory council really has pushed to boat out this time on demented policies. Here are the best.

"This strategy sets out a game-changing Central Activities Zone (CAZ) to deliver a world-class leisure experience. We’re investing £150 million over the next three years to deliver our ambitious Oxford Street Place Strategy and Delivery Plan," says an inanely grinning Councillor Richard Beddoe on page 3.

Yet there's no space for cycling and who'd want to cycle to the shops anyway?

Because "pressure from competing uses, high PTAL values across the city and the limited space on offer within Westminster’s fine grain urban environment mean that provision of shortstay cycle spaces will not always be appropriate. This approach is reflected in Westminster’s travel pattern that suggests people don’t generally cycle to visit areas like the Central Activities Zone (CAZ) and many of Westminster’s town centres." (p109)

And car parking policy:

"[W]e have developed a parking policy approach which functions on two distinct but interrelated levels. Firstly, we have an overarching parking policy which covers most of the city and follows emerging London Plan car free standards and secondly, we have a localised policy specifically covering Parking Zones B & F [which covers the very dense districts of Paddington, Marylebone and Fitzrovia]" (p115)

This "localised parking policy" gives justifications for deviating from car-free housing. These are two examples that illustrate Westminster council's mentality.

Firstly, adequate car parking to meet demand will combat air pollution.

"Air quality is one of the top concerns for Westminster’s residents. If off street parking is only allowed for a fraction of the predicted growth in zones B and F, residents would need to travel and search for parking spaces due to kerbside stress experienced in these zones." In other words, a lack of parking space is going to increase pollution in the middle of London. (p115)

And a family-friendly city centre is one full of cars.

"A central principle of the emerging City Plan is to encourage mixed and sustainable communities and a demographic imbalance exists within Westminster in terms of the proportion of families living in the city. Cars provide a method of convenient transportation and release from the stress of living in central London. This is particularly relevant for young families where the cost of public transport and the logistical implications of using these forms of travel can be a prohibiting factor for many families moving to and staying in Westminster." (my emphasis, p115)

Westminster City Council, City Plan 2019 – 2040 https://www.westminster.gov.uk/cityplan2040

[mjr]

Because "pressure from competing uses, high PTAL values across the city and the limited space on offer within Westminster’s fine grain urban environment mean that provision of shortstay cycle spaces will not always be appropriate. This approach is reflected in Westminster’s travel pattern that suggests people don’t generally cycle to visit areas like the Central Activities Zone (CAZ) and many of Westminster’s town centres." (p109)

In other words, "we're not going to build a bridge because few are choosing to swim across the piranha-infested waters"

Firstly, adequate car parking to meet demand will combat air pollution.

"Air quality is one of the top concerns for Westminster’s residents. If off street parking is only allowed for a fraction of the predicted growth in zones B and F, residents would need to travel and search for parking spaces due to kerbside stress experienced in these zones." In other words, a lack of parking space is going to increase pollution in the middle of London. (p115)

In other words, "we're going to keep putting more piranhas in the water until things stop being eaten".

"[...] Cars provide a method of convenient transportation and release from the stress of living in central London[...]" (my emphasis, p115)

I'm just in disbelief at that one. I can only think that the author gets "release" from driving their pollut-o-mobile and thinks everyone does - and then you guess it might be a reason why the model on page 3 is grinning inanely and I'm very very sorry for putting that thought into your mind!

[horizon]

The council is currently composed of 41 Conservative Party members and 19 Labour Party members.

In all the brouhaha about the leadership contest it is easy to forget that this is the kind of head-in-the-sand thinking you get when the Tories run things. It's sick really.

[LinusR]

The policy is all the more daft as it alienates most of the people living the borough as they don't have a car. Only four London boroughs have lower rates of household access to a car.

[TrevA]

My son is about to move from Richmond to White City and is giving up his car. You simply don’t need a car in Inner London.