Fix Our High Streets

We want to change our larger roads from unpleasant motor vehicle carriageways where dirty air, noise and danger put off people from visiting, shopping, sitting in cafes or on terraces meeting friends. 

We don’t think, for example, that Holland Park Avenue today is a good example of a thriving metropolitan boulevard.  The same is true of High Street Kensington.  Or indeed the Kings or Fulham Road.  Or Earl’s Court Road. Motor traffic prioritisation has made them polluted, noisy and dangerous places for pedestrians and those on bicycles to visit and enjoy. 

But this can change. In Paris, for example, perhaps the world’s most famous boulevard, the Champs Elysees, is now benefiting from a segregated cycle path as Paris tries to restore the attraction of this once great road. 

For businesses and shopkeepers we genuinely believe this will boost business, and that’s what the evidence shows happens when streets are made more attractive for people to visit. 

RBKC know that our High Streets aren’t what they should be – and commissioned a report from Centre for London to look at the issues.  But we already know what the issues are – the Council just doesn’t dare tackle the difficult ones which primarily from too much vehicle traffic, and too much road space allocated to motor vehicles rather than people.  Adding a few benches, some plants and perhaps a sculpture is all very well, but if the road itself remains noisy, polluting and dangerous it won’t fix the underlying issues.