News Articles Archive - Page 58 of 146 - Cross River Partnership

This week we have launched our Places For All social media campaign! Each day we will be communicating the benefits of Low Traffic Schemes, de-bunking popular myths, and giving people a platform to share their positive stories using #OurHealthyStreets.

Low Traffic Schemes, such as LTNs, have existed since the 1970’s, however the number have dramatically increased since March 2020 as part of TfL’s Streetspace for London’s temporary measures to create more space for walking and cycling to allow people to travel safely during the pandemic.

Have you benefitted from a Low Traffic Scheme in your community? Share your experiences using #OurHealthyStreets. It’s time to spread the word!

Due to the short time in which funding was available for Local Authorities to set up and implement these LTN schemes across London in 2020, their initial roll out has triggered mixed feedback from residents and businesses. However of a poll of 2,000 Londoners surveyed last year, 1/3 of respondents (33%) said they support the introduction of LTNs and a further 19% said they “strongly support” them.

Places For All will showcase the many benefits of Low Traffic Schemes, from improving air quality and promoting active travel to decreasing noise pollution and making streets safer and more accessible for all to enjoy.

This week, we are showcasing the work of CRP partner Kensington and Chelsea Council. CRP spoke to Environmental Protection Specialist Louise Grimes about the Council’s recent work on air quality.

Our priority at Kensington and Chelsea Council has been supporting residents and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Before the pandemic began, we were already offering zero-emissions deliveries on essential food and medicine to isolated people with the Defra-funded Clean Air Villages 2 cargo bike scheme. As the pandemic took hold, the scheme was a huge help in delivering food and medicines to people self-isolating or shielding in the area, offering deliveries from two pharmacies and community hub Bay20. We made 250 deliveries that would have otherwise been undertaken in a van or car in the first 10 weeks of the scheme! More pharmacies told us it would help them, so the Council funded the scheme directly for an extra 12 weeks, providing 1,300 zero emission deliveries to local residents.

We’ve now established a new Clean Air Village in the Cromwell Road area. Plans to engage businesses have been limited due lockdown but with the help of the CRP, the Council is working with nine businesses including the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum. We’ll be working with the museums to understand how they get their deliveries and services and see how we can help them to work together to consolidate, re-time or reduce the number of deliveries to help improve air quality.

With the end of the financial year drawing closer, March has been a busy month for Healthy Streets Everyday!

We have continued to deliver DrBike sessions with partners in the boroughs of Greenwich, Richmond and Tower Hamlets. We have also funded even more school street measures and we’re on our way to publishing three additional case studies and a new guidance document discussing the benefits of monitoring.

March is also a month to reflect on everything we’ve achieved over the past 12 months. Although the pandemic has created many challenges for CRP and partners, we have managed to remain resilient and work together to deliver streets that are pleasant, safe places for all Londoners’ to enjoy.

We can’t wait to work with our partners to deliver even more Healthy Streets
initiatives in 2021 and see what the future will bring! CRP is extremely grateful to the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund for making all of these achievements possible.

Here are just a few of the things the Healthy Streets Everyday Programme and its partners have achieved this year:

Installed additional cycle and scooter parking
Delivered Dr Bike sessions across London
Helped to fund three parklets across London and provide wider support through CRP’s Parklet Guidance Document
Funded pollution sensors in Richmond
Carried out traffic and air quality monitoring across London
Provided a School Street Hotline to support London Boroughs with the delivery of school streets
Published a report on Mobility Justice to raise awareness
Green infrastructure
Supported and participated in the Clean Air Day London Summit
Delivered several knowledge sharing sessions as part of CRP’s LiveShares

For further information please contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull.

Last week, Centre for London launched ‘Seeing clearly: How lighting can make London a better city‘. This report explores the benefits of better lighting across the capital, outlining how improvements could be achieved. If you missed the event, you can watch it here.

CRP is very pleased to have been a supporting sponsor for this research, along with the City of London Corporation. The project has been generously supported by it’s funders, the Greater London Authority, Illuminated River Foundation and The Rothschild Foundation.

Following the tragic abduction and murder of Sarah Everard in South London, the spotlight is on the capital’s public spaces and their influence on safety. According to a YouGov survey for UN Women UK, 71% of women of all ages have experienced sexual harrassment in a public place.

Good design in the public realm, including open spaces and lighting, is fundamental to the safety of all at night. We were pleased to see that The Sunday Times referenced CRP’s past project, the Golden Jubilee Bridges, as an example of good public realm design – safer for women and safer for everyone.

CRP’s Mobility Justice guidance gives insight into the everyday experiences of disabled people in London, and informs on the transition to inclusive transport and infrastructure. Together we can create a brighter future for everyone using London’s streets.

CRP is pleased to announce that the Annual Report and Business Plan was agreed at the CRP Board meeting on 9th March.

The great achievements delivered throughout this past year include, a new Healthy Street Everyday interactive website, and inspirational case studies and guidance documents on inclusive streets and school streets. As part of the Clean Air Villages 3 Project, seven cargo bike schemes have been launched, covering 596 miles to date, along with 14 new Clean Air Routes. 17 LiveShare online webinar events have also attracted 866 attendees from across 12 countries, plus much more!

Do take a look at the testimonials video from a range of partners and stakeholders.

We have also set ourselves a series of challenging targets for the year ahead. For more information, please contact CRP’s Operations Manager Carol Quamina.

CRP is delighted to have secured £700,000 from Defra on behalf of partners, to deliver a fourth phase of the award-winning Clean Air Villages project. Huge congratulations to everyone involved!

The project will involve working with public, private and community partners across some of London’s worst air pollution hot spots, to provide innovative Freight Solutions, addressing Consolidation, Distribution, Mode, Technology and Policy in order to make sure that London ‘builds back better’ from COVID-19.

The new Clean Air Villages project will start on 1st April 2021. Please see the full press release and statement from Clean Air Villages Project Manager Kate Fenton here.

For more information on how Clean Air Villages supports CRP’s strategic priorities and plans, please contact CRP Director Susannah Wilks.

CRP’s next Lunchtime Launch session will be taking place on Thursday 25th March, 1:15pm – 2pm.

We are very excited to be launching our new report, Town Centre Futures, where we will be showcasing practical recommendations to create a greener, cleaner recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and enhance the roles of all of London’s Centres. Recommendations will inter-link transport, economic, environmental, cultural and health aspects of London’s future.

We will be joined by:

Debbie Jackson, Executive Director for Growth, Planning and Housing at Westminster City Council.
Richard Brown, Acting Director at Centre for London, who will be showcasing practical recommendations and the crucial role of London’s Town Centres and High Streets as we emerge from the pandemic.
Rachael Aldridge, Project Officer at Cross River Partnership, will be speaking about how the Town Centre Futures recommendations can be implemented collaboratively by London’s key players, across public, private and community sectors.

London has created an enormous value based on collaboration and innovation, and this new research aims to bring together partners from across London to emphasise and build on this.

This week we are featuring CRP’s Communications & Business Development Manager Joshua West, who is leading on CRP’s internal and external communications across all projects.

As part of my role at CRP, I have the privilege of getting to dip my toes into lots of different projects, ensuring that the amazing thing we do reach the right people at the right time. Since March 2020, the team and I have been working remotely from the comfort of our bedrooms, lounges, kitchens and sometimes garden sheds. Communication has never been more important to succeed across our portfolio of innovative programmes that are helping London’s residents, businesses and visitors to build back greener, cleaner and safer. I work on the ‘cradle to grave’ aspects of communication across CRP’s projects, from composing roadmaps to launch new website tools for our partners, to finessing the final touches to a social media campaign and empowering the team to utilise the next best design tools to make their projects shine. What I enjoy the most about CRP is the practical and positive changes we deliver, the cross-cutting nature of our work with partners, and the opportunities to think creatively to solve some of London’s most pressing challenges.

Though the pandemic has tested us time and time again, we need to look back at the progress we have made and how far we have come in one year. This year we will be celebrating International Women’s Day on 8th March! UN Women have announced this year’s theme as “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”.

This theme rings true as we take heed from global leaders who have championed and mobilised people to demand climate action as we rebuild ourselves from the pandemic.

The association between air pollution and women’s health is has become well evidenced, where the exposure air pollution has adverse impacts on maternal and newborn health. At CRP, we are dedicated to find solutions in reducing air pollution and raise awareness about the importance of air quality in enhancing mental, physical and spiritual health through projects such as Healthy Streets Everyday and Clean Air Villages 3. We also collaborate with Mums for Lungs, Regen Network and Global Action Plan.

If you’re interested in joining and collaborating with us to help improve London’s air quality, please contact CRP Project Officer Anusha Rajamani.

Archives: News Articles

Places for All

CRP’s Spotlight On: Kensington and Chelsea Council

Healthy Streets Everyday March Round-up

Lighting London Launch

A Safer Public Realm

CRP Annual Report 2020/21 & Business Plan 2021/22

CRP’s Clean Air Villages 4 Funding Success!

Town Centre Futures Lunchtime Launch Event

CRP’s Staff Spotlight On: Joshua West

International Women’s Day