In response to many years of work by the Peabody Tenants’ Association, local councillors and our local Assembly Member, Transport for London have said that a bus route to the Upper Peabody estate would be practical
and have agreed in principle that such a service is possible. In taking
this proposal forward, they will thoroughly test and consult before anything
is decided or put in place.
To be clear, no bus route to
the Upper Peabody estate has been decided on, and it would not go ahead
without a full consultation involving local residents. Its route, its
impact on local streets, and the bus stops
will all be up for discussion.
In order to start this process we are
holding a public meeting on 26th March, 7:30 – 9pm, at the community hall on the Upper Peabody estate. Please join us – we want to hear what you have to say.
To answer a few questions
that have been circulating recently – we don’t anticipate a significant
reduction in parking, although we do hope that a local bus service
would reduce the need for car travel. In regard to
the recent drawing of double yellow lines on the Upper Peabody estate in
supposed advance of a bus service coming this has not been done in
response to councillors, Lambeth Council or Transport for London. This
is a Peabody decision and we were not consulted,
informed or advised of yellow lines being drawn.
Tenants on the Peabody estate – both Lower and Upper – have been asking
for a bus service for a long time and were instrumental in getting the
proposal this far. A survey of residents on
the Upper Peabody estate has been conducted and Peabody received an
overwhelming response in favour of it. Residents of both the Upper
Peabody estate and the Birkbeck Triangle have written to us to express
their support – for many, particularly older residents,
parents with young children and disabled, the steep hill is a huge
barrier to going to the shops, visiting friends or getting to work, and a
bus will go a long way to helping.
All the above is open for discussion and consultation. We hope that
you look to attend the public meeting next month in order to help shape
the debate surrounding this bus proposal.
Update 20/02/2015: In response to residents’ concerns that work was being carried out without their consultation, Peabody have halted the line drawing. We have had a guarantee from them that they will wait until anything is certain before drawing lines for a bus. Some yellow lines have been drawn which are nothing to do with the potential bus service, but which reiterate no parking zones already there. An additional carparking facility is being added to the estate which should create an additional 30 car parking spaces, so any loss of space should a bus service commence will be at least equalled by this new facility. We expressed residents’ concerns that carparks are poorly lit and do not feel safe, so better lighting will also be installed.
Thurlow Park News 