Opponents of Waltham Forest Mini Holland scheme have case thrown out of court

Opponents of Waltham Forest’s Mini Holland initiative, which is transforming the streets of the east London borough to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as more pleasant for local residents, have today had an attempt to have the initiative blocked thrown out of court.

The group E17 Streets for All, which had claimed that the borough had not followed the consultation process correctly, was also ordered to pay the council costs of £12,000 according to a tweet from the Twitter account @WeSupportWFMH, run by backers of the £30 million scheme.

Judge rejected all @E17Streets4All claims as unfounded, appeal rejected, they have to pay council £12,000 #wfminiholland #justice

— We Support WF MH (@WeSupportWFMH) November 6, 2015

In a statement sent to road.cc, Councillor Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment at Waltham Forest Council, said:“Our Mini-Holland programme is designed to improve the borough for everyone and we are pleased that the High Court has dismissed the arguments put forward.

"The Council appreciates that people have concerns and hope that this provides another opportunity for us to reassure everyone in the borough that we take seriously the need to meet all the appropriate legal requirements.

"We will continue to work with the community to develop the programme, which encourages walking and cycling, as we roll it out across the borough,” he added.

This afternoon, the council tweeted these pictures.

Photos from our fun filled cycling session at St Josephs Jun Sch promoting road safety & cycling #wfminiholland pic.twitter.com/BL74PaZI6S

— WalthamForestCouncil (@wfcouncil) November 6, 2015

And earlier this week, @WeSupportWFMH tweeted this picture which provides a striking example of how Mini Holland is changing the borough.

For 1st time in over 15 yrs, every shop unit on Orford Rd is occupied. 2 restaurants expand since Oct #wfminiholland pic.twitter.com/jMtcXpjAJE

— We Support WF MH (@WeSupportWFMH) November 4, 2015