By the way. I've been thinking quite a bit about "North" Shakespeare Rd. Partly because I've been using it as my walking route between Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction recently, to check out what's going on with the LN.
There's no question it's problematic, including it into a Livable Neighbourhood. This, I'd say, is mainly because of bad town planning decisions made in the past.
There are a couple of stretches of Victorian terrace but a lot of it was redeveloped in (I assume) the 80s or 90s, largely on the former railway lands.
If you look at both of those housing developments - the one that stretches along almost all of its east side, and the one on the other side of the road at its north end, you can see they are both done in a kind of cul-de-sac arrangement with off-street parking allocated to all or most of the housing units. It seems they gave everyone parking space, but included no shop units whatsoever. That's now an entirely outdated approach and if the same sites were developed now, that would not happen. It's a great way to generate car dependancy: give everyone a parking space but don't provide any services within easy walking distance.
It's really a very long road to be devoid of a single shop along its length. This is compounded by the fact that it's entirely isolated - you can only get in or out of the street at each end, even as a pedestrian. I don't know if that's by design or just an accident of history. A couple of pedestrian routes through to Loughborough Park, or a bridge over the railway line, would change things substantially.
Furthermore, it's got no public transport running along it (in this it kind of parallels - literally - the
Milkwood Bus Chasm).
So, if you live somewhere around the middle of Shakespeare Rd, you have to walk quite a long way (at least by Zone 2 London standards) to access shops or public transport.
What's been created is a kind of enclave of car dependancy, which perhaps makes it less surprising that much of the objection to the LN comes from those living on this street. If you live in something that's been designed to make you use a car, and then one of your two routes out is blocked to cars, then that's going to feel different than it would if you live somewhere that's designed so that you can easily walk to a shop, or to a bus stop. What's being asked of Shakespeare Rd residents is actually different to what's being asked of those in the Railton Rd area, because the "pedestrian" alternatives are not there in quite the same way.
That's not the fault of the residents, it's the fault of decisions made in an era when it was considered ok to pander to the demand for car ownership at the expense of those without.
I don't know what the solution is in the short term. In the longer term - I'd hope that any new developments along the road, especially in its middle parts, would be encouraged to provide space for a couple of shops. I'd look to make pedestrian connections through to Loughborough Park too. Maybe see if a bus route could be provided along Shakespeare Rd.
I'm not keen on the idea of LN resident car owners getting an ANPR free pass for the modal filters. But the more I think about it, I do think it could be justified for N Shakespeare Rd residents because of the unique nature of their situation. If it's technically feasible I think it should be looked at seriously.
Another thought about ANPR passes (more generally) is that they could be offered as grandfather rights - in other words you get one if you live in the area when a scheme is introduced, but if you move in after that point, you don't. So over time the number of people holding them decreases.
