the kids aren’t alright

3 minute read

Last week Hackney Council announced the closure of Stoke Newington Church Street to through traffic during the day time. I spent over two years living in a flat on this busy and polluted road in what is an otherwise lovely area of London. Instead of just closing the street to through traffic, they are also introducing five filters to avoid simply redirecting cars elsewhere. They are proactively discouraging driving.

Just a few days before this announcement the street where I now live in Derby was due to be resurfaced. There was more engagement and concern from local residents and councillors in our local Facebook group about where all their cars would go than I’ve seen on any other issue in the nearly three years I’ve lived here.

We also saw the highest ever temperature recorded in Europe – 48.8 degrees celsius in Sicily, as well as the release of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report which the chief of the United Nations described as a ‘code red for humanity’.

We have had overwhelming scientific evidence that we must take urgent action to address the climate crisis for decades and we are now directly experiencing the catastrophic consequences of our inaction. From heatwaves to floods, we are witnessing the breakdown of our climate and the destruction of our only home.

We also have comprehensive information about why this is happening and what we can do to tackle this crisis. According to this blog post by the CEO of the Campaign for Better Transport, “transport is the biggest emitter of carbon emissions with 27 per cent of all emissions. Collectively, cars are the main contributor with just over half of emissions (55 per cent)”.

The climate emergency is one of the main reasons I set Spoke Out up and it is also why protecting our planet is one of our core aims. Our campaigns and cycling schemes therefore not only focus on enabling more girls, women and non-binary people to have their voices heard, but also prioritise building up their confidence and knowledge riding on the roads so we can replace car journeys.

We know the money and resource exists as last year alone, Derby City Council received over £1 million in emergency active travel funding and they recruited three new (male) programme managers to the traffic and transportation department. They also have £161 million from Transforming Cities funding and £16.7 million for ‘Future Mobility Zones’, both in partnership with Nottingham which I know from personal experience has a much better approach. Although Derby City Council declared a climate emergency in May 2019, this money is still being spent on infrastructure like the below examples, poorly thought through schemes and proposals that are distinctly lacking in vision given the sheer scale of what we are facing.

So at 10.30am on Saturday 4th September we are taking to the streets to ride a family friendly, accessible route starting at Chester Green to celebrate cycling and to highlight the numbers of people and children who want using their bikes on our roads to be easier and safer.

We want Derby City Council to properly and thoughtfully consider and design infrastructure for the safety of all road users by creating a connected network of innovative, accessible and segregated routes. Everyone is welcome to join us as we collectively call on our council, councillors, decision makers and transport planners to make space for us.

Making Derby a safer place for cycling would make it a cleaner, quieter and more welcoming space for everyone. To make this happen we need bold and ambitious decisions like those made in Hackney, and we need them now. They may be unpopular, they may go against the vocal minority but we owe it to the next generation because the kids aren’t going to be alright unless we take action and cycling has the potential to play a big part in the solution.

In solidarity,

Lucy

founder | spoke out