As you may know, works are scheduled to begin later this year via Transport for London, to take out sections of the central reservation on Streatham High Road. You may have already seen that the black railings have disappeared.
The original area was to remove the section of the central reservation between Woodbourne Avenue and Leigham Court Road (the Kwik Fit Garage and Streatham Hill Station) and replace it with Trees, similar to what has already happened between the Odeon Cinema and the Kwik Fit Garage.
However, we heard rumours that things have changed, and that the trees may not be forthcoming. At lot of local people have also expressed concern at the loss of what little greenery there was in the planters. (A survey a couple of years ago found that greenery on the High Road was one of the top concerns of local people).
The plans have yet, apparently, to be finalised. However we sought clarification from Transport for London and a commitment that there would be no net loss of greenery. We have today received a response from TfL which states:
"We intend to retain the same level of greenery, including options to see where additional greenery can be provided. The plans are not however finalised, but we are happy to share them with you when they are."
It is reassuring that the intention is to maintain the same level of greenery, and look for opportunities to increase it. But a lot clearly depends on TfL's assessment and measurement of the existing greenery. More worrying is that there doesn't seem to be much opportunity for local people to input into the plans before they are 'finalised'. We will keep pursuing this with TfL and keep you updated.
If you would like to see some images of what Streatham High Road could look like with more greenery see these images here, which were created by one local resident.
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