WEPN Launches Successfully
11.11.08 The Walk England Professional Network (WEPN) for the London region was a great success. The event on Monday 10th November attracted over 150 professionals.
London led the walking agenda nationally in 1993 when it set up the London Walking Forum. At its peak it had more than 500 contacts and was instrumental in setting up the first international Walk21 conference; providing evidence to the government’s Select Committee hearing; and ensuring walking appeared in the first Mayor’s Transport Strategy.
The City of London, who coordinated the Forum, remains committed to the regional agenda and continues to deliver the successful Walk London partnership with TfL funding across the Capital.
London has taken the lead again by launching the first Walk England Professional Network - attended by more than 150 people from across health and highway authorities with responsibility for delivering walking projects. The networks have three aims:
1. To extend the vision of what is possible at national, regional and local levels
2. To develop practical projects that will let more people walk in London
3. To share ideas and help with the delivery and monitoring of walking initiatives so that they can be as effective as possible.
We were delighted to have Valerie Shawcross, Chair of the Transport Scrutiny Committee, to Chair the event who called for a more detailed and coherent cost benefit study of walking and more support for boroughs in delivering projects. (Walk England will be talking to The Department for Transport about this before Christmas and hope for support from such a study can be published by the summer).
Dr Simon Tanner, Regional Director for Public Health and responsible for the health of 8m people reminded the Network that more than half of Londoners do no activity at all to benefit their health and that if we, collectively, could address this – we would be saving the NHS £2bn per year (2% of the budget) and 800 people from dying prematurely. He particularly called the Network to inspire people to walk close to their homes – to work with each other to ensure people don’t feel ‘trapped by crime, congestion and unfriendly streets‘.
Kulveer Ranger, Director of Transport Strategy in The Mayor’s office with a responsibility for steering an £8bn annual investment, invited the Network to comment on ‘The Way 2 Go’ policy document that was recently launched and ‘has walking fundamental to its vision’. He identified the 1.7m car trips a day that are less than 1km long and 109 tube connections which are quicker to walk as potential quick wins for the Network to help deliver more walking in London. He was questioned as to why Oyster card users were punished for walking these links (such as Euston to St Pancras) and he committed to look into this.
Kulveer called for clutter to be removed, more trees to be planted and Legible London to be implemented across the Capital to ‘help bring back pride to our streets and a sense of community’. ‘Walking is key to our approach’ he said, but ‘it is too often marginalised in budgets, strategic plans and growth strategies’. He called for ‘greater recognition and prioritorisation politically for walking’. Please do comment on the policy and be informed by the Walk England response - a copy of which can be found on our website.
Mark Davey, a web expert and marketing technologist, illustrated the opportunities for using web 2.0 technology to encourage more people to walk. He explored the potential of Google maps and street view to be used on mobile phones and invited the network to discuss how such applications could improve on London’s existing journey planner and Legible London ambitions.
Dr William Bird continued the mornings presentations with information on the importance of greenspace to complement pro-walking policies to tackle the social isolation that is known to induce chronic stress. ‘94% of people would walk if their GP told them to’ he said but we need led walking schemes (such as WHI), walking maps around GP Practices, training and more widespread use of the Outdoor Health questionnaire to support what he described as the evolution of a ‘Natural Health Service’.
Following the workshop sessions the Network agreed that they should meet again, potentially in March. There was a call for more links with colleagues in sport and with the private sector but there was a general appreciation that it had been a very worthwhile day.
Published by: Travel Actively on Tuesday November 11 2008
