The Lottery will not be paying for the City of London to turn the footpath on the Heath into a vehicle only service road. We’ve just heard that the Corporation’s bid to build the road, and to make other changes to our part of the Heath, has been turned down. But the Say No To The Road campaign is not celebrating yet. It’s good news in the sense that the Corporation will have to think again about its plans but it doesn’t mean we can pack up and go home. We still need to convince the Corporation that the road is a bad idea.
Huge opposition
Our strongest argument is the 10,000 people who have signed our petition forms or signed up on line. We find it hard to believe that the Corporation could propose to go ahead with the road, given this overwhelming evidence that local opinion is opposed to it. Since we handed in our petition to the Corporation, and officially stopped collecting signatures, another 314 people have signed the paper sheets and 800 signed up on-line. As of today, the total is 9,750. Many thanks to all the people who helped gather signatures, who signed up, who joined us on our action days or who wrote letters of protest. Your support has been fantastic.
What comes next
We are hopeful that the Corporation will take a fresh look at the whole issue now that the Lottery bid has been rejected. There is a good chance of a new start as the leadership at the Corporation is changing. Bob Hall, the chairman of the Heath Management committee, is leaving after doing his three years in the job. A new chair will be elected on 22 May. We hope that we can meet that person soon and, if possible, help them find ways of coming up with an alternative to the road. But be prepared. The Corporation may want to press ahead regardless, so we may well have to call on you again.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE ROAD!
The Corporation of London is proposing to build the first vehicle-only road on Hampstead Heath. It would run into the Parliament Hill Triangle from Gordon House Road. This road would be unsafe and unsightly. It would be built to service new offices which the Corporation of London want to build on the Heath. It may also serve as a dangerous construction route for the other building projects the Corporation is planning for the Parliament Hill area.
On this website, there is information on how you can TAKE ACTION:
You can SIGN OUR PETITION
On this website, there is information on how you can TAKE ACTION:
You can SIGN OUR PETITION
Use one of our DRAFT LETTERS
Or, if you'd like more information about the planned road and the campaign, you can contact the campaign organisers by SENDING AN EMAIL to SayNoToTheRoad@gmail.com
SIGN OUR PETITION!
TO SIGN THE PETITION, JUST SEND AN EMAIL WITH THE WORD 'PETITION', YOUR NAME, AND YOUR ADDRESS TO SayNoToTheRoad@gmail.com
PETITION
We, the undersigned, ask the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London Corporation not to degrade Hampstead Heath by building a vehicle-only road to provide access to proposed new offices on the site of the Parliament Hill depot. We believe this road will present safety risks and cause environmental damage. Crossing the road, with its increased volume of traffic and speeding cyclists, will be dangerous for school children using the back gate from Parliament Hill School and the many pedestrians from Lissenden Gardens and the surrounding area. We urge the Corporation to remember its duty ‘to preserve as far as possible as may be the natural aspect of the Heath’ and abandon plans for this new road.
PETITION
We, the undersigned, ask the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London Corporation not to degrade Hampstead Heath by building a vehicle-only road to provide access to proposed new offices on the site of the Parliament Hill depot. We believe this road will present safety risks and cause environmental damage. Crossing the road, with its increased volume of traffic and speeding cyclists, will be dangerous for school children using the back gate from Parliament Hill School and the many pedestrians from Lissenden Gardens and the surrounding area. We urge the Corporation to remember its duty ‘to preserve as far as possible as may be the natural aspect of the Heath’ and abandon plans for this new road.
SEND AN EMAIL/LETTER!
TO USE THESE DRAFT LETTERS, JUST CUT AND PASTE THE TEXT INTO AN EMAIL OR LETTER, ADD YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS, AND SEND!
DRAFT LETTER TO THE CORPORATION OF LONDON WHO ARE PLANNING THE ROAD:
You can email Bob Hall:
robert.hall@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Alderman Bob Hall
Chairman, Hampstead Heath Management Committee
City of London
Guildhall
PO Box 270
London EC2P 2EJ
Date
Dear Mr Hall
I am writing to express my deep concern about your plans to build a vehicle-only road on Hampstead Heath. The road will bring no benefit to users of the Heath and will greatly reduce its amenity.
I am particularly concerned about safety as local residents, Heath users and school children will have to cross the road to get to the Heath. Current research and planning practices suggest that shared-use roads are safer for pedestrians than vehicle-only roads.
The Corporation of London claims to be building the road to improve safety on the main footpath from Highgate Road onto the Heath, but the dangers to pedestrians on that path will be greatly reduced when the depot and stores are moved to Kenwood as planned. Without the depot and stores, the Highgate Road entrance would be perfectly capable of carrying the amount of traffic that would be needed to service the café and proposed new heritage centre. But the Corporation of London has not fully investigated the access options from Highgate Road, which is a shorter, safer and more logical route for the road.
I am concerned that the real reason for building the road is to service the offices that you plan to build on the depot site. You are proposing to significantly degrade the environmental quality of the Heath in order to build offices and allow staff and visitors road access to them. In addition, I am concerned that the proposed vehicle-only road will be used as a dangerous construction route for the various building projects you are planning for the Parliament Hill Triangle.
I hope you will reconsider this unacceptable proposal and look forward to hearing from you.
DRAFT LETTER TO THE CORPORATION OF LONDON WHO ARE PLANNING THE ROAD:
You can email Bob Hall:
robert.hall@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Alderman Bob Hall
Chairman, Hampstead Heath Management Committee
City of London
Guildhall
PO Box 270
London EC2P 2EJ
Date
Dear Mr Hall
I am writing to express my deep concern about your plans to build a vehicle-only road on Hampstead Heath. The road will bring no benefit to users of the Heath and will greatly reduce its amenity.
I am particularly concerned about safety as local residents, Heath users and school children will have to cross the road to get to the Heath. Current research and planning practices suggest that shared-use roads are safer for pedestrians than vehicle-only roads.
The Corporation of London claims to be building the road to improve safety on the main footpath from Highgate Road onto the Heath, but the dangers to pedestrians on that path will be greatly reduced when the depot and stores are moved to Kenwood as planned. Without the depot and stores, the Highgate Road entrance would be perfectly capable of carrying the amount of traffic that would be needed to service the café and proposed new heritage centre. But the Corporation of London has not fully investigated the access options from Highgate Road, which is a shorter, safer and more logical route for the road.
I am concerned that the real reason for building the road is to service the offices that you plan to build on the depot site. You are proposing to significantly degrade the environmental quality of the Heath in order to build offices and allow staff and visitors road access to them. In addition, I am concerned that the proposed vehicle-only road will be used as a dangerous construction route for the various building projects you are planning for the Parliament Hill Triangle.
I hope you will reconsider this unacceptable proposal and look forward to hearing from you.
Your sincerely,
Please also email the Councillors Maya De Souza, Alex Goodman and Adrian Oliver, who are all Green Party Councillors:
Contact Glenda Jackson MP:
And contact your local press.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
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