Raveley and Lupton Street Home Zone Safe and Healthy Streets

Overview

We want our streets to have more safe space for everyone to walk and cycle, for children to get to and from school safely and healthily whether they’re walking, wheeling or scooting, to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles and for you to be breathing cleaner air.

We want our streets to provide a lasting legacy of greener, safer, healthier travel that not only support physical activity but also nurture wellbeing and happiness by connecting people with green space and nature. Greener streets can help improve mental health, reduce stress, and make everyday journeys more enjoyable for everyone.

Two-thirds of households in Camden do not own a car, and around 87% of all trips by Camden residents are made on foot, by bike or on public transport. Supporting and encouraging those who can, to walk and cycle, by creating safer, healthier streets, will help ensure that there is more space available on public transport and on our roads for those who need it the most.

In line with our Camden Transport Strategy, Climate Action Plan, and Clean Air Action Plan, and to continue supporting safe, healthy, and active travel, we have been making changes across Camden as part of our Safe and Healthy Streets Programme.

Why are we Proposing Changes?

Raveley Street and Lupton Street are primarily residential and are part of a historic 'Home Zone' that was created over 20 years ago. The ‘Home Zone’ includes road closures (bollards) on Raveley Street (west) and Lupton Street (south), with the eastern and northern sections of these roads remaining open to traffic. Many drivers use the eastern and northern sections of these roads as a shortcut between Lady Margaret Road and Brecknock Road to avoid traffic queues on Brecknock Road. Residents have reported frequent incidents of road rage, damage to parked cars, and idling traffic during rush hour due to congestion.

Concerns have also been raised regarding the historic ‘Home Zone’ bollards, which currently do not effectively prevent delivery mopeds and motorbikes from bypassing the closures, often at speed. This has raised road safety concerns, especially during school drop-off and pick-up times when children are present.

Traffic Data

In response to concerns raised by residents, we carried out traffic counts on several streets in the area. The traffic count data was collected over a two-week period between 17 June 2024 and 30 June 2024. The weekday average (24-hour) motor vehicle traffic volumes are shown in the plan below.

Figure 1: Average Weekday 24-Hour Traffic Flows (Two-Way)

The highest traffic volumes in the study area were recorded westbound on Raveley Street (east) and northbound on Lupton Street (north), particularly during the evening rush hour (4–7pm), as shown in the graph below. During site visits, officers observed increased traffic in these directions (i.e. traveling from Lady Margaret Road to Brecknock Road) and noted queues on Brecknock Road, supporting residents’ concerns that drivers are using these residential streets as a shortcut to avoid congestion on Brecknock Road.

Figure 2: Average Weekday 24-Hour Traffic Flows on Raveley Street (east) and Lupton Street (north)

Proposals

In response to the issues outlined above, concerns raised by local residents, and our commitment to creating safer, healthier streets, we are proposing a series of new Safe and Healthy Streets improvements in the area.

We are consulting on the following proposals:

1. Introducing a trial Healthy School Street (timed motor vehicle restriction) on Lupton Street and Raveley Street (see Figure 3 below). The Healthy School Street would operate Monday to Friday from 8am - 9am and 3pm - 4pm (during school term time only). This would help discourage unnecessary car trips and enable more children to safely and easily walk, cycle and scoot to school.
2. Introducing a trial one-way system (except for cycles) on Lupton Street (north) and Raveley Street (east) between Brecknock Road and Lady Margaret Road. Motor vehicle access would be via the Lupton Street/Brecknock Road junction only. This would help to reduce traffic using these streets as a cut through, reducing traffic volumes in the area and reducing potential traffic conflicts while still keeping access to local properties.
3. Installing motor vehicle restriction signage at the existing ‘Home Zone’ closures on Raveley Street (west) and Lupton Street (south) and installing an enforcement camera at the Raveley Street (west) closure. This would help to reduce the number of powered two-wheelers, such as mopeds and motorcycles, that currently ignore the existing closures, improving road safety.
4. Removing the resident permit holder only parking bay on Lupton Street (south), outside the entrance to Eleanor Palmer Primary School. This would enable the creation of a fully motor-traffic-free area in the ‘Home Zone’ outside the school entrance, improving safety and making the space more pedestrian-friendly.
5. Adding new low-level planting areas, making improvements to the look and feel of the area and installing play equipment near the entrance to Eleanor Palmer Primary School. This would help to enhance the street environment, improve air quality, provide localised climate resilience, and promote biodiversity.
6. Adding low-level planting in the wider area, including on Lupton Street (south), near the Ospringe Road junction. This would help to enhance the street environment, improve air quality, provide localised climate resilience, and promote biodiversity.
7. Installing new ‘Sheffield’ cycle parking stands at the Raveley Street (west) and Lupton Street (south) ‘Home Zone’ closures. This would help to increase local on-street cycle parking capacity.
8. Installing two new, secure cycle hangars on Lupton Street (south) and two on Raveley Street (west). This would help meet demand in the area by providing 24 new safe and secure cycle parking spaces for local residents. There are currently 102 residents on the waiting list for a space in one of the existing cycle hangars, on Lupton Street and Ospringe Road.
9. Introducing a dockless e-scooter and cycle hire bay on Raveley Street (west). This would help create more dedicated space for dockless e-scooters and bicycles, making it easier for people to choose and access healthy and green travel options.
10. Extending the EV charging bay on Raveley Street (east) to accommodate two vehicles instead of one. This would support the expansion of Camden’s EV network and improve resident access to EV charging infrastructure.

You can view drawings of the scheme proposals and some example photos of some of the proposed changes in the Related Section at the bottom of this page. Further details on the proposed Healthy School Street and cycle hangars are also provided below.

The Healthy School Street

Many schools suffer from busy nearby streets which causes problems with:

• Parking
• Traffic and congestion
• Road safety
• Air quality

The Healthy School Streets programme aims to address these problems and create safer and healthier streets by temporarily closing roads to motor traffic outside schools during pupil drop-off and pick-up times. This enables more children to walk, cycle or scoot to school, with less air pollution, road danger, congestion, and more space for people to stop and chat. There are over 30 Healthy School Streets in Camden which help to discourage car trips, particularly amongst parents and carers, by providing a safe and inviting spaces for more walking, cycling and scooting. The 2025-2028 CTS Delivery Plan outlines the Council’s commitment to continue to deliver Healthy School Streets with the vast majority of projects aimed to be delivered by 2026.

The proposed trial Healthy School Street (timed motor vehicle restriction) on Lupton Street and Raveley Street would include relevant signage alerting drivers to the timed restrictions. The signage would state the times of the road closures and would be closed during school holidays. The proposed extent of the trial Healthy School Street is shown below.

Figure 3: Proposed Extent of Healthy School Street

The following vehicles would be exempt from the timed Healthy School Street restrictions by applying for an exemption:

• Vehicles registered to properties and businesses on the sections of the streets within the timed restriction area (exemptions would need to be applied for and agreed with the Council).
• Vehicles belonging to parents with a Blue Badge who have a pupil attending Eleanor Palmer Primary school, or parents/carers of pupils of this School that have a disability that prevents them from walking, cycling, or scooting to school (exemptions would need to be agreed with the Council).
• Emergency services such as ambulance, fire brigade or police, Door to door services such as Plus Bus and Dial-a-Ride and refuse collection vehicles and other statutory services will be automatically exempt.

School staff and visitors to the school would not be exempt. Taxis and delivery vehicles would not be exempt, and such trips would need to be scheduled outside of the restricted times or the vehicles would need to be parked outside of the restricted area. However, exemptions can be applied for in exceptional circumstances, such as when elderly or disabled people may need essential taxi journeys during the restricted hours. All the requests for exemptions can be applied for by contacting the Healthy School Streets team over the phone or via email. If the scheme goes ahead, details of how to apply for an exemption will be posted to residents and businesses in the consultation area.

Further Information Regarding Cycle Hangars

Residents in Camden have told us that they would like to have more lockable cycle parking, for hire, close to where they live. We know that a lack of somewhere to keep a bike safely can put people off taking up cycling. As a result, we are rolling out a programme of installing bike hangars across the borough.

Bike hangars also help to deliver our own Transport Strategy priorities, which were strongly supported when we consulted on them, including increasing cycling, improving air quality, and making our streets and transport networks safe, accessible, and inclusive for all.

Cycle hangars are installed and maintained by Cyclehoop, the Council’s approved supplier. Further details are available on their website at: cyclehoop.com/product/shelters-canopies/bikehangar/

Why your views matter

Your views are important in providing feedback on the proposed scheme and we welcome your responses to the questions on the pages that follow. The Council will be pleased to hear your views, as well as any alternative suggestions or objections you may have to any aspect of what we are proposing.

To view the plans click on the links in the Related Section at the bottom of this page.

After the consultation, a decision report will be produced and published online via our website. Local residents and stakeholders will be notified of the outcome. The report will consider a broad range of information including officer observations, consultation responses, relevant policies, and other data/information.

Subject to a decision being taken to implement the scheme, the proposed trial one-way system (except for cycles) and Healthy School Street would be introduced as a trial under an Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) for 18 months. The remaining Safe and Healthy Streets changes would be introduced under a permanent Traffic Management Order (TMO), subject to consideration of formal objections to the statutory traffic order consultation. Feedback received during the trial period, along with data collected and relevant policy considerations, will help inform the decision on whether to remove, retain, or amend the trial (ETO) scheme.

For information on how we will use data collected from this consultation read our privacy statement: Data protection, privacy and cookies - Camden Council