On 16 July 2022, the Mayor of Tower Hamlets issued a letter in which he claimed amongst other things that his current proposals to remove all the low traffic neighbourhoods in the borough fit with his vision for “Tower Hamlets to be the greenest borough in London.”
We weren’t convinced, so Save Our Safer Streets wrote and shared a response with a wide range of local people. Within only two days, more than 650 residents, businesses and organisations in and around Bethnal Green had signed the letter, asking the Mayor to revisit his approach to re-opening roads in the area and the borough. The list of signatures includes Oaklands School on Old Bethnal Green Road.
Old Bethnal Green Road was improved only last year to remove heavy traffic and rat-runs, and to encourage walking, cycling and outdoor socialising. Old Bethnal Green is one of the roads which Tower Hamlets Council is proposing to reopen to two-way traffic, despite being home to 4 schools, a care home and thousands of residents.
Do you agree with our letter? Add your name and share with your friends and family. When the Mayor responds to our letter, we will be able to inform him how many people support our call for him to keep and improve, not panic and remove.
Download a PDF version of the open letter here (pdf 253kb).