Petition details
Safer Poplar High Street
We have become extremely concerned about speeding cars on Poplar High Street. Quite often at night the street is being treated like a Brands Hatch speedway with vehicles chasing each other up and down the street. We are also aware that it has become a haven for drug dealing.
Our Petition also relates to the dangerous use by cyclists of our pavements. These are no longer safe for pedestrians and there does not appear to be any signage directing cyclists or electric scooter users onto the street.
Our request in relation to the Landscape Area is for CCTV and Lighting, especially once the Workhouse closes at night. There have been many nights when parties and other activities are taking place undercover of the dark. In the morning there is plenty of evidence of drug activities and NOX Canisters etc.
If you would like to know more about SPLASH and our activities look up http://www.splashe14.com or http://www.poplarneighbourhoodplanningforum.com or contact us at splashcommunity@outlook.com
This Petition ran from 22/10/2020 to 11/12/2020 and has now finished.
One person signed this Petition.
Council response
I am writing in response to the e-petition led by yourself raising issues in Poplar high Street.
On the 2nd of November, Community Safety staff made contact with yourself to establish more information on your concerns in order that the issues raised about the activities in and around the area described as the Landscape Area near the college could be further clarified and so appropriate action taken.
Following this, staff engaged with the local Safer Neighbourhood Police Team and made them aware of the issues raised about the alleged antisocial behaviour (ASB) and the alleged traffic and highway offences i.e. dangerous driving and cycling on the footway. We have asked them to patrol and where appropriate consider action using Road Traffic and Highways legislation not available to council staff.
Additionally and to inform a local action plan, the ASB officer arranged for a Crime Prevention Design Advice professional to survey the area described as the Landscaped Area and this took place on the 24th of November. The findings of that work have now been received and the officer has started to make contact with council colleagues in Parks who maintain that area, to discuss the range of recommendations of the report that are considered as likely to reduce the incidence of crime and disorder in the area.
Since first contact we have maintained regular contact with yourself and have pursued other lines of enquiry including analysing the content of diary logs you have completed about issues and incidents and further active liaison with police. The manager of the Community Safety Response Team, a team of staff whose role is to proactively engage with young adults has agreed for his team to also pay particular attention to the issues raised.
The case remains open and active, there are reports of other ASB still and an action plan with police is developing to support any environmental changes as a result of the Crime Prevention survey report. We will continue to regularly update you on this via the officer in Community Safety.
With respect to the actions the Council can undertake on the highway to address the issue raised. Firstly, Poplar High Street, as with all highways maintained and regulated by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, is already subject to a 20 mph speed limit. However, based on the alleged speeding offences presented in the petition it may be the case that this speed limit is not adhered to by all people driving vehicles on Poplar High Street and in some cases vehicles may travel at speeds substantially in excess of the speed limit. The Council has been awarded funding from the Department for Transport to implement measures in the Poplar High Street area to substantially reduce traffic. As part of this process the Council can undertake surveys measuring the speed of vehicles using Poplar High Street to help determine possible changes to the road lay out to help address this issue.
Secondly, while Poplar High Street forms a section of the ‘Cycleway 3’ cycle route there is only one short section of cycle lane separated from motor traffic between Cottage Road and Harrow Lane. It would appear that there is a level of pavement cycling on Poplar High Street that is having a detrimental impact on walking. While it is already the case that it is illegal to cycle on footways we can again evaluate the extent of this issues, and possible measures to address it through highways design and communications using the aforementioned DfT funding.
Kind regards
Jack
Jack Ettinger
Transport Planning Team Leader
Highways & Transportation
Directorate of Place
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
07957 332 763
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk