Back80 years on, and still going strong...
National Charity Living Streets is celebrating 80 years of campaigning for safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, and wants your views on the State of our Streets in 2009.
Back in 1920's, the streets were a dangerous place to be on foot. In 1928 alone 6,127 pedestrians were killed on our roads, with 164,487 injured (compared to 572 pedestrians killed and 28,481 injured today). Cheaper production meant that the number of motor cars was steeply rising. But a highway code, pedestrian crossings and speed limits were nowhere to be seen, making negotiating Britain's neighbourhoods on foot something of a risky business.
The Pedestrian's Association (later renamed Living Streets) met for the first time on 13 August 1929 as a direct response to the carnage on our roads, and within a year was campaigning for the introduction of driving tests, compulsory third party insurance and footpaths for rural roads. For a band of volunteers, the achievements in the following years have been staggering, with campaigns to increase walking levels (such as the nationally successful Walk to School campaign) introduced in more recent years which works towards making walking the natural choice of transport once again.
The volumes of traffic on today's streets, and our chronic levels of physical inactivity, make Living Streets 80th anniversary a prime time to look at what our streets are designed for in today's society. Living Streets strongly believes that our streets should be places that put people first, places to socialise, take daily activity and knit our communities together.
During our anniversary year, we are asking people up and down the country to tell us about the one thing that would improve the street they live on, in our national 'State of our Streets' survey. The responses will be presented to Ministers in Westminster and Holyrood at the end of our anniversary, and will guide our own campaigning work for the coming years.
Our 80th anniversary also marks the launch of our campaign to introduce a 20mph speed limit as default across built up areas of the UK - an aim that the founding fathers of Living Streets would certainly applaud.
Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets said:
"Living Streets is the oldest campaigning organisation for pedestrians in the world, and our 80th birthday is a great opportunity to take stock of what our country is like for people on foot today. While our name and image may have changed over the past decades, we are still campaigning for the same thing the people who met in 1929 knew was needed: to prioritise people over traffic.
"Safe, attractive and enjoyable streets shouldn't be the reality for a privileged few. We should all feel happy on the streets we live on - the impact of it on our quality of life is hard to overestimate. Whether you want to improve your health, reduce congestion, lower local pollution or increase neighbourliness, helping people feel confident about stepping out their front door is the first step in the right direction.
"With so many issues coming into sharp relief on our streets at the moment, we have never been busier. Our message is every bit as relevant as it was in 1929, if not more so. We're very excited about what the future has in store, and urge everyone to use this summer to seriously think about what we want from our streets - after all, we're all pedestrians at some point in the day. We plan to work hard to make that an enjoyable experience, not a traumatic one, for people around the UK."
Ahead of our big day in August we want to find out what is important to you about your streets now. Join our survey by visiting www.livingstreets.org.uk, and help guide our work for the next 80 years! On the big day itself (Thursday 13 August) we want you to join people around the UK and take a photograph that captures the essence of a street you know, and help us build up a picture of our streets in 2009. Prizes are up for grabs! To find out more, please visit our website.
ENDS
Published on: 10/08/2009
