An open letter from Southampton Street Space to the new leader of Southampton City Council.
Dear Mr Fitzhenry.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the recently elected councillors for their success in the recent local elections. As your new administration is welcomed into office we look forward to hearing your plans to help encourage active travel in our wonderful compact city.
In particular we look forward to seeing you working towards safer residential neighborhoods and encouraging more school streets, as you called for when in opposition, so we expect to see all existing schemes retained and expanded.
We also hope that you take on board the aspirations of the Prime Minister, expressed in the introduction to the Gear Change announcement last year, where he said he:
“aims to kick off the most radical change to our cities since the arrival of mass motoring. We announced in May £2 billion of new funding for cycling and walking – ….that will pay for first hundreds, then thousands of miles of protected bike lanes, so anyone can ride safely; low-traffic neighbourhoods, to stop rat-running and make it easier to walk and cycle; bus and bike corridors on some main roads; and funding for a massive rise in e-bikes, all of which will open up cycling to more and different people and make places better for everyone.”
We hope that the change in administration means that the money received from the Transforming Cities Fund is still kept for the city and invested in the schemes for which it was granted.
We need to see that your enthusiasm to keep the city moving includes everyone who travels in it, by bus, on foot, by scooter, wheelchair, mobility scooter or on a bike, not just those who choose to drive.
Southampton Street Space.