What’s planned for Highams Park?
We have four town centre schemes in the Mini-Holland Programme, of which Highams Park is one. The four town centres – Highams Park, Chingford, Leyton and Leytonstone – will be better connected through key walking and cycling routes, making it easier for people to walk and cycle for local journeys. The schemes will also improve the look and feel of these areas making them more enjoyable places, boosting business for the local economy and giving residents a sense of pride in their borough.
Between 2010 and 2015, over 350 people were injured on roads in Highams Park and air pollution in Waltham Forest is on the increase. At peak times of the day, we have up to 6,000 extra cars on our roads due to the school run. We need to do something about this so that everyone can get from A to B easily and safely. The Highams Park Town Centre scheme relates to the area framed by North Circular Road, Beech Hall Road, Hatch Lane and Woodford New Road
We need to develop detailed plans for the Highams Park area with the help of the local community. While we do not yet have a design, we have a vision for the scheme which is outlined in the bid document that was submitted to Transport for London to win the funding for the programme. You can view the bid document here.
We have approximately £500,000 of Mini-Holland funding to spend on the Highams Park scheme. Given the size of the area and the funding available we are suggesting that the scheme focuses on a number of key areas and roads as outlined in the bid, however we welcome your views on any road, junction or location within the wider area and, where
possible, we will look to investigate these further. Co-designing the scheme with local residents and businesses is key to the success of the Mini-Holland Programme. As well as your input, we will use traffic data to understand how changes in the area may affect traffic and levels of congestion. We’ll also have on-going conversations with key services in the area such as our refuse collection contractors and the emergency services. We know that access for these services is vital and it is a legal requirement for us to consult with the emergency services throughout the process.
You might have already noticed pockets of work happening in the Highams Park area such as changes to the highway and the introduction of a 20mph speed limit. These are all part of our day to day work to maintain the area and improve road safety and are separate from the Mini-Holland Programme. For more information on other projects happening in the area please visit www.walthamforest.gov.uk/Pages/Services/Roads-safety-traffic-schemes.aspx.