'Super-fast cycling' fears over council's Parkland Walk accessibility plans

The council is currently consulting on proposals to make the beloved nature reserve more accessible to wheelchair users, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Haringey Council wants to make Parkland Walk more accessible

Planned improvements to a Haringey nature reserve have sparked fears they could cause ecological damage and endanger vulnerable groups by allowing “super-fast cycling”.

Haringey Council has launched a consultation on plans designed to boost the accessibility of Parkland Walk, London’s longest nature reserve, which follows the course of a former railway track between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace.

The council says it hopes to make the walk “more accessible and inclusive for those with limited mobility, disabilities and physical restrictions”.

But local groups fear the plans, which may include resurfacing the pathway, could damage the environment and encourage “super-fast cycling”, potentially putting children, the elderly and those with disabilities at risk of harm.

Cathy Meeus, vice-chair of the Friends of Parkland Walk group, said that in at least one of the places where the council was proposing wheelchair access it would “destroy an unnecessarily large part of the nature reserve by concreting it over”.

She explained that many entrances to the walk lead down from old railway bridges, and these would likely require ramps, while others leading directly from roads “could be made much more wheelchair-friendly with minimum impact on the nature reserve.”

Insisting the group was “not against disabled access”, Cathy described the current surface as a “fantastic compromise between a reasonably hard and resilient surface, but also retaining the rural nature of the walk”. She said changing to a more “bonded” surface “would vastly change the aesthetic of the pathway and could possibly impact on the wildlife.”

Cathy added: “The big thing is the encouragement of super-fast cycling down a smooth surface. If the theory is to provide greater accessibility to wheelchair users, the encouragement of super-fast cycling would discourage and make a hostile environment for other users, for example elderly people.”

The council has previously come under fire for chopping down trees and clearing vegetation on Parkland Walk to allow it to carry out repairs to the old railway bridges over the pathway.

Gio Iozzi, chair of Haringey Tree Protectors, said these actions had led to a “deep mistrust towards the council around Parkland Walk, which they are still treating like a park and not a nature reserve”.

She said: “Our fears are, it is not going to enhance more but further degrade the ecology and wonderful nature of this place. It is a nature corridor – wildlife can travel across it uninterrupted and unimpeded.

“They are making ramps at the bridges. If they are going to be bigger ramps like at Stanhope Road, we are going to lose lots more trees. Just a hard path through some trees – that’s our fear.”

While a hard surface would be “great” for some users, Gio said it could lead to cyclists travelling at “much faster speeds” and intimidating slower users. Warning that a non-porous cover could also encourage flooding, she said: “We want a surface that is really nature-friendly, very sensitive, with the minimum impact on vegetation and biodiversity.”

Gio said Haringey Tree Protectors were not against improving access for disabled users but called for any changes to be led by conservationists, ecologists and local people who have knowledge of the nature reserve, adding: “It has to be preserved as much as it can be.”

Emily Arkell, the council’s cabinet member for culture, communities and leisure, said: “We are currently in the early stages of plans to improve accessibility to Parkland Walk. This is part of our ambitious strategy to ensure that all of our wonderful parks in Haringey are fully inclusive and accessible for everyone in our diverse communities.

“As with everything we are doing as a council, we want this project to be a collaboration with our residents – so no decisions have yet been made around materials. An online consultation is currently open for Parkland Walk users to share their ideas on the best way forward, as well as to register interest in being part of our co-design group, who will help us to make decisions about materials and designs.

“We are really keen to hear from as many stakeholders as possible, and I was pleased to meet recently with a representative from the Friends of Parkland Walk. I call on everyone who cares about this vital green space to respond to our consultation so we can take all views into account.”

The consultation on the Parkland Walk proposals is available online:
Visit parklandwalkimprovements.commonplace.is

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