Lea Bridge Road/Walthamstow mini Holland

TWO MINUTE WALK! Good god. Next thing we know we'll be overrun with commies.

I can't say that I agree with the owner of Finamore-

However, I do know him and his business is furnture, it's now a pain for it to be delivered when the road is closed.

Orford Road, including Finamore, is rammed at the weekends. Now, some of that has undoubtedly been the sunshine of the last few weeks. But I was just up there for a coffee on a Monday mid-morning. Fairly busy. And it's raining today. Most businesses are clearly doing well out of it - and the environment is massively nicer. Meanwhile down on quieter Grove Road, a new cafe opened up and seems to be doing well also.

As far as I can see, the antis are increasingly shrill and insane - the filtered permeability "closures" have now been compared to, variously, North Korea, the Berlin Wall, and a black hole for cars; they've dragged a coffin up the street to signify the death of the village; they've compared council officers to Nazi concentration camp guards ("only following orders") etc. They're also all over the shop. They variously claim that they're pro cycling facilities and segregated tracks and only anti closures; but their page has loads of stuff saying to object to tracks at Whipps Cross and Hoe Street etc. The parallels to the SOS campaign in Green Lanes are very obvious. This lot of NIMBYs are just anti any change.

Meanwhile, yes, disabled folk can park at several spots within yards of the 100m stretch of Orford Road they can't get to, emergency services are at worst a bit confused if the driver hasn't navigated the closures before, and the anti shop next door to Finamore currently has an application in to change use from an architects' office to a cafe with pavement tables. As far as I understand it from several conversations with people who do know Finamore, btw, his stated problem that he can't load/unload for him or customers is rubbish - he has rear access with parking. The issue appears to be he used to rent that parking space out to someone else, and now can't.

Its always been that way. It skipped the 'poor and interesting' stage.

An interesting article in the guardian today

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/oct/05/bike-lane-blues-london-local-businesses-cycle-enfield-green-lanes

The issue appears to be he used to rent that parking space out to someone else, and now can't.

lulz

The issue appears to be he used to rent that parking space out to someone else, and now can't.

Was this on his private forecourt, then?

The council should hand out the results of numerous examples around the world which show the benifical sides of bike lanes to local businesses. Bicycles passing by, are more likely to than cars.

They already do, but the people against the scheme just ignore them. "All these places around the world are absolutely nothing like Walthamstow/Enfield/Kingston, so the events that happen in every country of the world every time schemes like this are launched couldn't possibly happen here, and we will all go bankrupt so we must RESIST the DREAD HAND of CYCLING FASCISM"

No I have no idea, although to be fair that is a very nice bit of blacktop

Great post. Are you a member of the Walthamstow NEWS group? A strong faction of antis on there, their main beef seems to be that they're sitting in traffic longer in the surrounding streets. I have no idea if this is true or not but the first casualty of war is always the ability to get yr kids to school in less than 30 mins.

they're sitting in traffic longer in the surrounding streets

#havetheyconsideredcycletraining

How bad would the traffic be if all the cyclists go in cars? Not something a motorist contemplates.

Worse than that, if cyclists got into cars, presumably those cars would be driving along the pavement and jumping red lights and I bet the cyclists driving cars wouldn't be wearing helmets nor hi vis.

It is a reality that I dare not contemplate.

How bad would the traffic be if all the cyclists go in cars? Not something a motorist contemplates.

I tried this argument once, the response was (paraphrased) "If cyclists all got in a car then the increase in revenues (VED, VAT, fuel duty, etc) would pay for the massive increase in road capacity that would be required for everyone to drive where they wanted to without delay."

Of course, silly me, problem solved.

I presume you asked them to show their working?

The Tories are putting forward a motion against mini-Holland at the next council meeting on Thursday 22 October. Funnily enough they're using the same arguments against funding cycling as the idiotic Dave Hill in the Guardian. Namely that cyclists are middle class white men. Yet in countries with proper infrastructure, more women than men cycle. Grrr. So depressing... http://democracy.walthamforest.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=27329

Here's Dave Hill's blog: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2015/oct/12/why-are-london-cyclists-so-white-male-and-middle-class

It was , the Architect's practice that is.

Dr Rachel Aldred, I think, has made a similar point. Have a look in the August/ September CTC magazine.

There's not too much "utility " cycling in WF, It is mostly blokes in lyrca.
That includes me

There is some truth in this

There's not too much "utility " cycling in WF, It is mostly blokes in lyrca.
That includes me

Is that argument for doing nothing or doing something?

Of course not, though doing nothing should always be an option.

My point is that the objections to Mini Holland should be listened to.

Actually, have any of you read Dave Hill's article? It makes many a useful but uncomfortable point.

I read it. His main source is a study published in 2011 with data from 2008.

I look out of my window every morning on to the Grand Union tow path and the steady stream of people on bikes and what I see does not reflect his concerns.

I think things have moved on. A bit.