To Bromley Council leader Cllr Colin Smith and Portfolio Holder for Transport Cllr Nicholas Bennett,
Today sees the launch of the 2023 Healthy Streets Scorecard, the fifth annual release by the London Healthy Streets Coalition – a group of health, environment and transport campaigners. The media release associated with the scorecard mentions Bromley as one of the boroughs where further action is needed (1). London Borough of Bromley
• is one of three London boroughs with less than 10% of appropriate streets covered by a 20mph speed limit
• is bottom of the table for parking controls, controlling parking on fewer than 10% of streets
• is named in the media release as having little or no priority for buses, in contrast to many boroughs with 40 to 50% of routes prioritised for buses (with bus lanes or similar)
The Bromley results conclude with the statement that “without serious ambition from the council, Bromley will continue to languish at the bottom end of the Scorecard” (2).
The Healthy Streets Scorecard shows to what extent London Boroughs are putting in place six key measures which will dramatically improve air quality and road safety, boost active lifestyles and reduce carbon emissions (3). Bromley Council's Portfolio Holder for Transport, Councillor Nicholas Bennett, has recently stated publicly that “Bromley does not recognise the value of most measures included in the Healthy Streets Scorecard” (4).
We are publishing this open letter to encourage a large, broad and diverse range of Bromley stakeholders to come together to collectively ask Cllrs Smith and Bennett two questions:
We would be grateful if Cllrs Smith and Bennett could please indicate their response to these questions in a public statement, circulated on social media channels.
We are asking these questions because we would like to work collaboratively with Bromley Council to improve Bromley’s streets for all road users. We see something collaborative like this forum as a space where new solutions could be discussed and support for planned improvements could be strengthened.
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