Mini-Holland

A local resident writes in about LBWF ‘traffic calming measures’ that do the opposite! UPDATED

April 27, 2023 LBWF spin, Mini Holland

The post that follows, contributed by a local resident, describes how badly thought-out traffic calming schemes in Waltham Forest are producing damaging consequences. It is a valuable case study in itself, but doubly welcome because it further substantiates two of this blog’s long-standing observations – that LBWF’s traffic calming/ active travel initiatives are often subject to spin, with the upsides inflated and the downsides ignored; and that despite their rhetoric, Waltham Forest councillors and officers are poor at responding to residents’ legitimate grievances, a major reason, of c... »

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Walthamstow resident and community activist Charlie Edwards dismantles LBWF’s claim that it ‘consulted’ before installing 500 new bike hangers

March 17, 2023 LBWF spin, Mini Holland

In the past, this blog has been somewhat sceptical about LBWF’s Mini-Holland and associated ‘active travel’ interventions, primarily because when the bombast was stripped away, careful investigation often showed that the underpinning evidence was surprisingly weak, as case studies of, first, a consultation about bike hangers in South Leytonstone, and, second, the King’s College Environmental Research Group analysis of local air quality vividly illustrated (see links, below). Regrettably, a more recent development suggests that this unhealthy approach to due process, perhaps also the truth, rem... »

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London Fire Brigade attendance times in Waltham Forest: are they delayed by road closures?

August 16, 2021 Mini-Holland

The paper reproduced below is by local resident Steve Lowe, and looks in detail at the vexed issue of whether LBWF programmes such as Mini-Holland and low traffic neighbourhoods have impacted on London Fire Brigade attendance times in the borough. We are grateful to Mr. Lowe for permission to reproduce what is a very interesting, well researched, and, above all, convincing contribution to the debate. ‘London Fire Brigade Attendance Times in Waltham Forest: Are They Delayed by Road Closures?     By Steve Lowe, 01 May 2021 ‘Context and Purpose of This Document There is understandable... »

LBWF, the London Fire Brigade, and ‘controlling the narrative’ over fire crew response times in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

July 14, 2021 LBWF spin, Mini-Holland

As this blog has reported over the years, LBWF spends a good deal of time and money attempting to ‘control the narrative’, that is burnish its reputation through fair means or foul and, crucially, head off legitimate criticism. Previous posts have looked in detail at how this works, focusing on spin (‘the selective assembly of fact and the shaping of nuance to support a particular view of a story’) and manipulation of the Freedom of Information Act (FIA), the latter recently provoking a firm rebuke from the Information Commissioner’s Office. However, a short sequence of e-mails ... »

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An interview with Waltham Forest Streets For All

February 8, 2021 LBWF spin, Mini-Holland

1. To start with, can you say a bit about yourselves? What brought you together? What kind of organisation are you? Where do you draw support from? And how do you finance your activities? Waltham Forest Streets for All is an umbrella organisation for all groups fighting road closures and other transport related issues in the borough. We were formed originally from members of E17StreetsforAll, Our Streets, and a group in the Blackhorse area. Since then, there have been groups in Markhouse, the Stay Together group in Leyton, and groups in Chingford, as well as Save our Buses, for whom we provide... »

LBWF, Mini-Holland, and air quality: the King’s College Environmental Research Group report and its frailties

April 9, 2020 LBWF spin, Mini-Holland

Acknowledgement: I am very grateful to Steve Lowe for drawing my attention to the subject of this post, providing important source material, and making helpful suggestions right the way though the drafting process. In the early summer of 2018, LBWF commissioned the much respected Environmental Research Group based at King’s College London [hereafter KCERG] to ‘model a range of interventions around air quality, exposure and attitudes, and its [sic] impact on the Public in Waltham Forest’. The background was well known. LBWF had been implementing a £27m. scheme, dubbed ‘Mini-Holland’, which prio... »

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Council Leader Clare Coghill, trader Asghar Jilow, and the controversy over Walthamstow Street Market

June 12, 2017 Cllr. Clare Coghill, Mini Holland

In recent months, there has been a good deal of controversy about the future of Walthamstow’s famous street market and the shops that surround it. LBWF is involved in a strategic review, but many traders remain unimpressed, arguing that this is pointless because it fails to address two debilitating problems, which they believe are Mini-Holland and the authorities’ failure to clamp down on crime and ant-social behaviour. One trader, Asghar Jilow, has been especially vocal, and I reproduce below (with permission) some of his correspondence with the new LBWF Leader, Cllr. Clare Coghill. What is p... »

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Save Our Buses and Mini-Holland

April 5, 2017 Mini Holland

As this blog has observed before, many of those who vociferously debate Mini-Holland in Waltham Forest remain unconvincing, largely because of their unfortunate habit of confusing anecdote and assertion with properly grounded research. However, there are exceptions, and one that stands out is the organisation Save Our Buses (SOB). SOB was formed in 1990, and has been campaigning pretty much ever since, along the way becoming an authoritative voice in the borough. What makes it stand out is the forensic nature of its approach, and the clarity of its briefings. Inevitably, over the past couple o... »

Dave Hill on ‘Mini-Holland’ in Enfield

January 20, 2017 Mini Holland, Uncategorized

Writing for his blog, the Guardian‘s Dave Hill, who has his favourites but is sometimes moderately iconoclastic, surveys how ‘Mini-Holland’ is evolving in our neighbour, Enfield: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2017/jan/17/the-long-war-of-mini-holland-in-enfield One sentence jumps out: ‘Meeting Rogers [‘Clare Rogers, local resident and mainstay of a group called Better Streets for Enfield’] made a nice change from encountering cycling zealots on social media, whose sanctimony, viciousness and weird conspiracy theories – these from the ... »

Waltham Forest’s Mini-Holland: an imminent exposé?

December 21, 2016 Mini Holland

I recently stumbled across this video about Mini-Holland (MH) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hEVPJm-cBM What is perhaps of more interest is the following statement that its creator has placed on Facebook: ‘This video is a response to the feedback from ENJOY WALTHAM FOREST in regards to MH. The feedback claims that residents are happy with the scheme. This is perversely misleading; the scheme has actually torn Walthamstow into two parts. The claims have now prompted other areas of the UK to follow suit and implement a MH. This video is here to highlight the feelings of local... »

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