St Peter’s ward by-election Green Party candidate Caroline Allen explains how she would help users of the local canal as a Green Councillor.
As a regular user of the Regents Canal as it passes through Islington I am well aware of problems over how this resource is shared between the different users; as well as threats to the canal from new developments. These are issues that London Assembly member and Green mayoral candidate Jenny Jones commented on during her recent visit to the Regent’s Canal in Islington. "The towpaths are a wonderful recreational asset, but everyone has a right to use them".
I believe that there are no easy solutions to sharing a narrow towpath that is a pleasant escape from traffic filled streets, but it is clearly unconconstructive to pit cyclists against pedestrians when the real issue is courteous versus discourteous behaviour, something that surely filters down from our roads.
If elected as a councillor, I would ensure that any planning application must guarantee full and free access to the canal for walkers, cyclists and traditional transport uses. The canal network is currently underused as a transport resource in London and it would be wrong for canalside development to impede this important aspect of the canal’s role in our city. In addition such planning applications should recognise the urgent housing needs of the borough rather than solely the commercial interests of property developers.