Labour’s Claudia Webbe at the hustings

• APING PMQs (Prime Minister’s Questions) by allowing the candidates at last week’s Healthy Streets hustings a preview of the local Living Streets’ questions was an absurd idea – one made by the group jointly with Cycle Islington, I understand, (We’ll shut school streets, April 20).

The participants were after our vote on May 3 so it was essential they shared their grasp of this important brief, particularly in the case of the current executive member for transport and environment.

Despite the prepping, what we got were largely vacuous party lines. Unsurprisingly, it was the audience’s unscripted questions which produced the revealing answers.

So here’s another one: isn’t it time our residential streets reflected the fact that only 26 per cent of Islington households owns or has access to a private car (TfL – Roads Task Force Thematic Analysis)?

To paraphrase Councillor Claudia Webbe’s response regarding gardens and barbecues: “Those with cars are in a minority”, so restricting on-street parking “is fair” – and in line with her party’s mantra, “For the many, not the few.”

An excellent place to start would be with the borough’s proposed Quietway 10 (from Finsbury Park to Amwell Street), so it was good to hear council leader Richard Watts acknowledge existing concerns about the route at this week’s general hustings.

Residential parking spaces at the junction of Thornhill and Offord roads have long posed a serious risk to cyclists – and pedestrians trying to cross the former – as Barnsbury ward councillor and local resident Rowena Champion has acknowledged (Ms Champion is standing for re-election next week).

Meantime, modal filtering along Gillespie Road – and probably elsewhere along the route – is essential if cyclist safety is to be guaranteed, but repeated calls for such action have been rejected by the transport exec.

As she tweeted recently: “Residents not yet formally consulted. Will consult on final design. We undertook research to explore what was doable.”

The real question is whether Cllr Webbe has the guts to challenge the Barnsbury parking lobby, many of whom are core Labour supporters. And parking permits are a source of money for the council.

Will she put active – and safe – travel at the top of her agenda, should she retain her seat and portfolio after next week’s election? We’ll see.

Meantime, Cllr Webbe might like to note that, despite having a garden, yesterday a neighbour went to Highbury Fields for a barbecue, undermining her stance that outdoor cooking on the Fields is for those without gardens.

MEG HOWARTH
Ellington Street, N7