Sloane Square update
Proposals to improve Sloane Square by replacing the 1930s roundabout with a crossroads have been shelved by the Council following a consultation with local people and visitors.
The Council hoped to reintroduce the historical crossroads so as to allow the creation of two spacious paved areas at the east and west sides of the square.
The Council consulted on the future of Sloane Square in Chelsea with local residents in 2003 and 2005 and found high levels of support for a radical change, including from the Chelsea Society.
However, a group of residents presented a petition to the Council in February 2006 to retain the gyratory system. Subsequently, the Council funded their ideas, allowing them to be worked up into an alternative scheme.
A further consultation was carried out earlier this year, offering the options of introducing the staggered crossroads layout and retaining the current gyratory system, with improvements to its appearance. The headline results of that consultation have now been received, though much detail will need further reflection.
The consultation was not a referendum but an opportunity for the Council to learn the reasons for residents’ views in favour of and against the various options. The exercise took a number of forms and showed that about 65 per cent of those who took part had a range of concerns about the plan to return to the square’s pre-1930s crossroads layout.
The consultation was conducted by independent firm ICM and took place throughout March 2007. Over 6,800 registered an opinion in various ways. Over 27,000 consultation papers were delivered in Belgravia, Chelsea and Brompton ward. 4,319 of these residents opted to express an opinion (15 per cent), very similar to the rate of response to the 2005 consultation that showed a 75 per cent level of support for change.
The Council is committed to listening to the views of its residents. Its proposals had support from amongst others, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, English Heritage, London TravelWatch, the Cyclists’ Touring Club, Transport for London and leading architect Lord Rogers.
However, the consultation threw up a mass of detailed concerns, many of them about traffic and the Council believes it would not be appropriate to implement the improvements while people have these anxieties.
Senior councillors still believe that the crossroads scheme is an exciting opportunity to improve Sloane Square by greatly increasing both the amount and the accessibility of usable pedestrian space.
The design flaws apparent in the current layout of Sloane Square, which mean it serves pedestrians particularly poorly, remain unresolved. Opportunities will be sought later in the year to carry out small-scale interventions that seek to address some of the conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles.
The Council has delivered its promise to fund the design of a more detailed alternative scheme and commission one of the most thorough consultations using a variety of techniques ever carried out by a local council.
The Council remains committed to major public realm improvements throughout the borough. Kensington and Chelsea is regarded as being at the forefront of street and urban design and the Council will be continuing major improvements the length and breadth of the borough. Kensington and Chelsea has an outstanding built inheritance.
Each generation has made their contribution to that legacy and the Council aims to ensure that this generation’s legacy is of no less a standard and embraces the challenges facing city life in the future.
Amongst the Council’s legacy programme are plans to make Exhibition Road a world-class streetscape worthy of the world-class institutions in a world-class city, the building of a new secondary school in Chelsea, a major improvement to Holland Park School, a new care home for the elderly on the Fulham Road and £67 million worth of council house improvements, delivered three years ahead of schedule.
As always the Council is interested to hear your views on the news that it has shelved its plans for Sloane Square. Are you disappointed with the news or are you relieved?
Please email your comments to rbkcdirect@rbkc.gov.uk.
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