A WHOLE swathe of East London could soon get a blanket 20mph speed limit—if one local councillor gets his way. Alan Laing has set his sights on reducing the 30mph limit by a third throughout Hackney and Shoreditch

By Lee Peart

A WHOLE swathe of East London could soon get a blanket 20mph speed limit—if one local councillor gets the green light.

Hackney Council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Alan Laing, has set his sights on reducing the 30mph limit by a third throughout his borough.

It would make Hackney the first London borough to bring in a blanket 20mph limit if City Hall agrees.

“We’re discussing with Transport for London how this would happen,” said Laing. “I hope to report back in the next couple of months.”

SPEED CAP

His comments follow a London Assembly report about tougher speed restrictions which could spread across the capital.

The report highlights Hackney as one of eight areas that are pioneering moves towards the blanket speed cap.

Hackney has 18 neighbourhood zones’ with 20mph limits already, covering more than half the borough, and now wants to bring them in on all residential streets.

That would include districts such as Shoreditch, Hoxton, Haggerston and Dalston, as well as the rest of Hackney as far north as Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill.