Mini-Holland

Ensuring that all new developments and projects
are genuinely cycle-friendly
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As part of a S106 agreement, a new cycle store providing
secure cycle parking for 160 commuter bikes is currently
being built by the developer of the Walthamstow Central
Station site, in addition to visitor cycle parking for the
retail units (and generous residential cycle parking for the
apartments).
There is also limited cycle parking close to the main (Selborne
Road) entrance to the Underground station. However, if
successful in the Mini-Holland bid, we propose adding
an iconic cycle parking facility for a further 100 bikes in
the Town Square Gardens opposite Walthamstow Central
Station, catering for visitors, shoppers and commuters. This
is particularly important as space for cycle parking along the
High Street is limited by the daily market from Tuesday to
Saturday.
At St James Street Station, which lies on the proposed
Quietway into Hackney and the Marshes, we also plan to
add covered secure cycle parking (monitored by CCTV)
for a further 40 bikes, with space to expand as demand
increases. Additional secure cycle parking is also required
at Wood Street Station, where under-provision is likely to be
supressing cycling to the station, resulting in additional short
car journeys.
Significantly more secure cycle parking is required at
Blackhorse Road Underground/Overground station (the
existing 50 spaces are often full and spilling onto railings –
and ongoing residential development in the area will increase
demand). We propose adding another 50 secure spaces in
a card operated bike store, so that both long and short stay
commuters are catered for. We will seek to provide room
to expand these facilities as demand increases (as new
development is completed)
Cycling and new development
Waltham Forest has integrated cycle parking into its Local
Plan, to make owning and using a bike as convenient as
possible. Our minimum cycle parking standards are higher
than those required by the London Plan (and our car parking
standards lower). The Council’s transport planners liaise
directly with developers to ensure that cycle parking is
suitably designed, secure and conveniently located – for all
land use classes. Provision for cycling is a central theme in
our emerging Sustainable Transport Supplementary Planning
Document.
Through pre-application discussions we seek to ensure that
developments provide safe and pleasant access for cyclists
(including low speeds within residential development which
enable younger children to experiment with cycling in safety).
In larger developments, we encourage home zones and
filtered permeability. We secure and monitor robust travel
plans for all significant developments (e.g. all residential
developments with 20 units or more). We also secure
developer contributions to improve local sustainable transport
infrastructure, including cycling.
In addition, we work with developers to ensure that
servicing and loading does not conflict with cycling within
the development and on local cycle routes. The Council’s
Cycling Action Plan also commits us to implementation of the
LCC Safer Lorries Pledge, whereby a condition of planning
permission is that HGVs involved in construction and servicing
new developments have the latest safety equipment, and that
their drivers have undertaken Safe Urban Driver training.