Kensington and Chelsea council, regarded as a leader in public realm schemes, has shelved its proposals for Sloane Square after an extensive consultation with residents and visitors.
Although the results of the consultation on proposals to improve Sloane Square by replacing a roundabout with a crossroads are yet to be fully analysed, initial observations showed that over 65% of those that took part were opposed to a return to the square's pre-1930s layout.
The Council favoured the crossroads scheme following two earlier consultations which indicated a significant majority of residents in favour of the idea. However, when a local group dedicated to keeping the existing gyratory layout emerged, the Council funded its ideas, allowing them to be worked up into an alternative scheme. It then commissioned a third consultation so that the alternative scheme could be presented alongside the Council's preferred crossroads scheme.
‘The third consultation was certainly not a referendum,’ said Leader of the Council, Cllr Merrick Cockell, ‘but at the same time the views of our residents and visitors matter to us. My own view is that the crossroads scheme is an exciting one that would have improved Sloane Square by greatly increasing both the amount and the accessibility of usable pedestrian space but it is clear that currently this does not carry widespread local support. The consultation has thrown up a mass of detailed concerns, many of them about traffic, and it would be irresponsible to proceed while people have these anxieties.
‘I will be recommending to my colleagues that we do not proceed with our favoured scheme and instead reflect on the mass of information and views that arise from the consultation.’
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