March 2022

46
Wanstead Village Directory
Active action
Aldersbrook resident Dr Mark Hayden is the Redbridge Climate Safe
Streets Champion for the London Cycling Campaign and believes
urgent action is needed to make our streets safe for active travel
It was reported in the October 2021
edition of the Wanstead Village Directory
that I planned to ride from Great Ormond
Street Hospital (GOSH) to Glasgow for
COP26. Alongside 70 paediatric healthcare
providers and two GOSH patients, I
completed the 500-mile ride to highlight
the lack of action to protect children
across the world from toxic air pollution.
We carried urgent messages from GOSH
patients, the World Health Organization
and a healthy climate prescription signed
by organisations representing 46m health
workers. But did anyone listen?
Undeterred, I am now working with the
London Cycling Campaign as the Redbridge
Climate Safe Streets Champion to pressure
politicians standing in the May local elections
to commit to taking action to protect children.
Redbridge sits in 31st place out of the 33
London boroughs on the 2021 Healthy Streets
Scorecard, and things are looking bleak unless
change comes soon. Our borough has one
of the lowest active travel rates in London,
possibly because we also have one of the
highest rates of pedestrians and cyclists killed
or seriously injured. And we have done little to
make our streets healthier compared to other
boroughs (in 2018, an estimated 28 people
in Wanstead died as a result of air pollution).
We have very few school streets or safe cycle
routes. We simply haven’t done enough and
need to take urgent action to make our streets
safe for active travel.
This is the local election that counts the most.
Politicians can no longer delay action – they
need to be big and bold now. Climate plans
mean nothing if action does not follow. And
action on cycling equals action on climate.
Electric cars are not the answer for saving
the climate, let alone congestion, pollution,
inactivity and road danger. People and streets
can change – change can attract a lot of
noisy opposition, but most people do want
better streets and most London motor vehicle
journeys could be done other ways.
Everyone gets the urgency; a Conservative
government, the Labour Mayor of London
and all the experts are basically saying
the same thing – we need a lot more
cycling and a lot fewer cars, fast. But are we
listening?
By Redbridge’s standards, Wanstead is
relatively lucky. I am thrilled by the impact of
the school streets initiative on Ingatestone
Road in Aldersbrook. I love taking my dog for
a walk in the morning and seeing the street
full of kids and parents on bikes instead of
speeding or idling SUVs. I also welcome the
segregated cycle lanes being installed on Lake
House Road and Centre Road, but worry that
children in areas east of the A406 are being
left behind.
For more information on the London
Cycling Campaign, visit wnstd.com/lcc
To advertise, call 020 8819 6645 or visit wnstd.com