Car ban to bring cafe culture to the High Street

11:15am Thursday 8th May 2008

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Cars will be banned temporarily from Sutton High Street and Throwley Way in a bid to bring cafe culture to the town centre.

In July Throwley Way will be closed to traffic during trading hours while the high street will be closed to traffic outside of trading hours.

The move is part of the town centre regeneration plan which aims to encourage a Parisian-style cafe culture of tables outside shops, bars and cafes, and to provide more space for pedestrians.

It was agreed unanimously at the Town Centre Traders' Forum after traders said that having the road open to traffic outside of trading hours made no difference to their sales or footfall figures. It now needs approval from other stakeholders before final plans are made.

"The plans for the town centre are yet to be finalised. However, we have extensively canvassed the views of residents, traders, businesses and visitors to the area. We have left no stone unturned in the consultation process, because we all want a more attractive, thriving, vibrant, diverse, welcoming and accessible Sutton town centre," said town centre manager Emily Fahey.

If the trial traffic order is successful the traffic ban could be rolled out permanently - which could also spell the end of the cycle lanes in the High Street.

The road closure will follow the decluttering of the High Street of all the unneccesary bollards, road signs and other street furniture.

But the possible closure of the cycle lanes has been criticised by a member of Sutton Cycle Campaign (SCC) who said if the group was to be consulted on the matter it would suggest shared use roads with signs to alert pedestrians to cyclists.

"It will be impossible to ban cycling unless they want to police it at all times. What is very practical is shared use roads where pedestrians know there will be cyclists and everybody follows the highway code and is considerate of each other," said Shirley Quemby of SCC.