POOLE LOCAL GROUP
We are a volunteer group of residents who want to make Poole's streets more people-friendly. By this we mean that we want our public spaces to be safer and more sociable places to enjoy, to travel through, and to linger in.
Poole is already a lovely place to live, but we believe it can be even better, now and for future generations. Every single member of our community deserves to make the most of what Poole has to offer, regardless of age or physical ability, but unfortunately our streets can sometimes restrict people.
Lack of safe crossings, uneven pavements, illegal parking and excess traffic can all be barriers to people being able to freely walk, scoot, wheel or cycle around our town. And did you know that our area has some of the worst air quality in the country, partly due to congestion?
Living Streets is the national charity for everyday walking, and we are embracing this at a local level.
WHAT WE'RE DOING
Our ambitions for Poole:
- Safer streets to improve the poor road safety record of Poole.
- More children walking (or scooting or cycling) to school either with family or independently, via quiet streets or safe routes on main roads. Currently 49% of journeys to school in Poole are by car (16% of which were less than 1km!).
- 'Improved air quality through reduced congestion. When it is safe and easy to walk, cycle or scoot, it means that people can choose not to drive for short trips. It only takes 5-10% of journeys to switch away from car in order to have a massive impact on congestion.
- Better community spirit, feeling proud of where we live, and being able to chat to our neighbours as we walk down the street, without being intimidated or drowned out by noisy passing traffic.
- Lively, welcoming and prosperous local high streets that can easily be reached and enjoyed on foot or by bicycle, on a mobility scooter or by wheelchair.
- Ensure public spaces are truly accessible for all with or without a vehicle.
- Greener, more colourful streets with trees, planters and wildlife for everyone to enjoy as they go about their day.
We will work with the community and with the Council towards making these ambitions come to life.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
If you are interested in finding out more, lending your support or if you have a concern or issue that you'd like us to look into, please get in touch via the links to the right of this text. You can join our mailing list if you want to be informed of any local events or campaigns, and we also have a Facebook page and Twitter account if you would like to say hello on social media.