Barnet has again scored badly in a yearly analysis of how well London boroughs prioritise active travel, road safety and public transport, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Barnet Council has made “little or no progress” on active travel and healthy streets despite declaring a climate emergency, a report says.

The borough was ranked 27th out of London’s 33 local authority areas in the latest ‘Healthy Streets Scorecard’ report, which is drawn up by a coalition of transport, health, road safety and environmental groups.

It represents a decline on the previous year’s ranking, when Barnet was in 25th spot – although there have been some changes to the way the score is calculated.

The report reveals Barnet has the lowest proportion of council-run roads covered by 20mph zones in London, at just 5% of the total – up 0.1% from last year’s figure. In twelve boroughs, mostly in inner London, the figure is 100%.

In addition, only 17% of Barnet is covered by low-traffic neighbourhoods – zones designed to stop through-traffic from using residential streets – compared to an average for London of 26%.

According to the report, just 0.7% of Barnet’s roads are covered by protected cycle tracks – the second-lowest proportion in London.

It adds that only 4% of the borough’s schools have a ‘school streets’ scheme – designed to restrict traffic at pick-up and drop-off times – operating in the roads outside them. The London average is 20%.

Meanwhile, just 3% of bus routes are prioritised through bus lanes and 22% of roads in the borough have controlled parking.

After the Labour group won power in May last year, council leader Barry Rawlings declared a ‘climate emergency’ in Barnet to recognise the impact of climate change. Labour’s manifesto pledged “to put sustainability at the heart of everything the council does”.

But the Health Streets Scorecard report states: “In spite of the declaration of a climate emergency in May 2022 and the council leader’s aim to be ‘one of the most sustainable boroughs in London’ there continues to be little or no progress in supporting moves to active travel and healthy streets. […] There is work to do if the aim of being one of London’s most sustainable boroughs is to be realised.”

Alan Schneiderman, the council’s portfolio holder for environment and climate change, said: “We’ve made a lot of progress in the last year but know that we still have more to do. We’ve declared a climate emergency, hosted a citizens’ assembly and aim to be a net zero borough by 2042.

“We are revising the borough’s transport strategy and will make it easier to put in 20mph zones where residents want them. We’ve introduced play streets, are consulting on more school streets, made the A1000 cycle lane permanent, are working with TfL [Transport for London] on bus priority measures, and we are making our town centres more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists. There’s lots going on in Barnet!

“Our new approach to tackling the climate crisis is a major change in the direction the council has followed for the past few decades. It cannot be done overnight – nor can it be done by the council by itself. Barnet is one of London’s largest and most diverse boroughs – but we are determined to make it net zero by 2042.”

Read the 2023 Health Streets Scorecard report for Barnet:
Visit https://www.healthystreetsscorecard.london/results/

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