A bus on Acre Lane, where Lambeth Council are proposing a new bus priority corridor.
Acre Lane shopkeepers oppose Lambeth Council’s proposed design for a bus priority corridor on Acre Lane, which would remove 51 parking bays and convert five bays to loading-only.
The council’s scheme aims to reduce traffic, improve air quality and increase the average speed of buses on Acre Lane, which move as slowly as 5.2mph against a 10-13mph target.
“The people who park in the road are the people who come into the business,” said Wally Bryan, proprietor of Supertone Records. “Without cars, we can’t do no business. We need deliveries. we need customers. You have Tesco and Lidl who have money to build car parks. We don’t have no car park.”
Without cars, we can’t do no business. We need deliveries. We need customers.
Wally bryan
The council said that its changes would “make it easier to access local shops, services and jobs”. Barbara Nash, a local resident who started a petition against the removal of parking bays, argued that the plans would reduce business access and harm disabled residents and families.
The council has already acknowledged local businesses’ demand for greater access. Their Initial Engagement Report noted that 11 businesses raised parking and access difficulties as an issue with the council. Six businesses requested more parking or loading bays.
“The council are going after small businesses so much,” said Sue Van Ristel, owner of Go 4 Granite Brixton. “How are we going to survive if we don’t have parking spaces? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Our analysis of the council’s 2023 Acre Lane parking survey shows that the surveyed parking spaces averaged a daytime occupancy rate of about 50 per cent. It also shows that drivers regularly used bays for deliveries and pick-ups.
The council has not announced whether its plans will be going ahead, and it has extended the original closing date for the proposed design survey from 18 October to 25 October.
