Hackney Labour Party

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Labour supports 20mph speed limits

Labour councillors agreed at Hackney’s Full Council on 20th November to work with the police and Transport for London to introduce an enforceable 20mph speed limit on main roads in the borough.

Hackney has the highest number of residents who cycle than any other London borough, and Labour councillors are committed to encouraging more people to cycle and walk to work.

All Hackney’s residential streets are already within 20mph zones. But it is vital that further steps are taken to ensure that Hackney’s roads are safe, and to continue to reduce the risk of road crashes and injury.

The motion passed at the Full Council meeting outlined support for a 20mph pilot on the main roads that are shared between Islington and Hackney. Representatives from Hackney Cyclists and Living Streets were also present to hear the debate.

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods said: “We want to improve quality of life for our residents by reducing traffic speeds, which also helps reduce noise and air pollution thereby making Hackney a better place to live.

“We make policies in Hackney based on evidence, which is why we are proposing to trial the 20 mph speed limit on some of our main roads to measure its effectiveness before we commit to rolling it out across the borough."

Cllr Vincent Stops who proposed the motion said: “We know that slower speeds will mean less injuries on Hackney's roads. I hope the council will be able to persuade the police to work towards the introduction of an enforceable limit on its roads.”

The full text of the motion is online here.