Leighton Road Parklet

Overview

The residents of Leighton Road in Kentish Town (Greening Leighton Group), are asking permission to build two Parklets in the parking bays next to the existing skip gardens, just east of Torriano Avenue.  

While the residents have shown us that there is strong support for the Parklets among those who live in the street, the purpose of this consultation is to find out the views of the wider area.

What is a Parklet?

A Parklet is created by changing a parking or loading space into a shared space for people.  They can be used for a variety of functions, but usually for seating and greenery, creating a place to sit, talk and relax. They are open and free for anyone to use.

The idea of creating Parklets started in San Fransisco in 2005, and were hugely successful.  Since then, they have been built all over the world and in an increasing number of London Boroughs. Now, Camden residents have been asking the Council to consider allowing the installation of Parklets in their borough.

You can read more about parklets by clicking on these external links:

Creating parklets for community and business resilience - Cross River Partnership

Parklets for Living Streets

Proposal in Leighton Road, Kentish Town

Plans of the proposed parklets in Leighton Road can be viewed below by clicking on the links in the Related section the bottom of this page.  Please also read the Frequently Asked Questions about Parklets for more information about how they are maintained, how how long they exist, etc. 

What happens after consultation?

After this consultation, we will carefully consider the responses in deciding on whether or not to allow the Parklets to be installed in the parking bays.

Should a decision be made to proceed, we would arrange for the parking to be suspended for an 18 month trial period.  During this time you can still comment on the proposal.  This feedback alongside other information, will help the Council decide on whether the parklets may remain in position on an ongoing basis.  

Parklets are generally paid for, and looked after by, local groups or organisations, with the parklets remaining open for everyone to enjoy. Camden Council would continue to monitor the caretaking of the Parklets to ensure good standards of public safety and road safety are met.

Why your views matter

Camden Council is looking to facilitate the development of Parklets in the borough as research has shown that  Parklets and green spaces can:

• Encourage active travel
• Improve mental health and wellbeing
• Improve revenue and footfall for local businesses
• Provide places to stop and rest, with shade and shelter
• Reduce the effects of pollution through healthy greening
• Improve accessibility and safety

As such, Parklets support the objectives of many Council policies and plans:

 - reallocation of kerbside space for active sustainable modes (Policy 1c, Camden Transport Strategy);

-  commitment to the development of a parklet program (Camden Climate Action Plan);

- making sure that 'green spaces, streets…and other public spaces are clean, attractive and safe’ (Our Camden Plan).

The Covid-19 pandemic has also shone a light on the value of providing outdoor meeting space for people to interact socially and safely outside.  Regardless of the current situation, Camden is always looking for ways to enable streets to become better social places, to encourage walking and provide greenery in the street.

What happens next

The consultation is now closed. Your views, and those of everyone who contributed to this consultation will be analysed and considered, alongside relevant data on the scheme and in light of how the scheme aligns with our current policy objectives, in order to put forward recommendations on whether to proceed with the proposals. A summary of this analysis will be provided in the decision report, and will be made available on the Camden Council website in due course.