Emergency services made it clear that any road changes should not affect their response times (Photo: Pixabay/Atish Anand) Changes have been made to some of the contentious ‘Streetspace’ schemes in Harrow following concerns raised around access for emergency services. Harrow Council confirmed some roadblocks, which form part of low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) measures in Headstone South and Vaughan Road, would be altered to allow emergency vehicles to pass. It is also removing part of a pop-up cycle lane in Honeypot Lane to allow easier access to Stanmore Fire Station. The Streetspace programme, implemented using funding from Transport for London, allowed the council to make road changes to assist with the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and encourage active travel.
The gates in Oxhey Lane (Photo: Google Maps) Six-foot-high gates outside a home in Harrow could be removed after the council refused retrospective planning permission for their installation. Harrow Council’s planning committee voted in favour of officers’ recommendation to deny permission for the 1.9-metre (6ft 2in) gates at Ayman Lodge, in Oxhey Lane, Pinner. A presentation to the committee described the gates, which were put up without approval, as “incongruous” and “unsympathetic” to the area. Officers added they were “inappropriate” for a site situated on green belt land and could be “harmful” to the rural nature of the surrounds.