🌻What have I learnt, so far?
The closure of Hammersmith Bridge set off a chain of events that drew together my background in journalism, localism, digital tools, civic innovation and climate awareness. The result is this blog.
At its heart is a single question:
How do I live my best life in the world’s greatest city during a climate crisis?
The discipline of identifying, researching and publishing a story forces me to understand topics in a way that casual reading does not. Every few weeks, I step back to ask: what have I learnt? This is my third such report. You can trace how my views are evolving by reading the earlier ones, here and here.
What difference has the blog made to my life so far? About what I anticipated. From early on, it was obvious this first year would be a foundation, a time to learn. I began with only a surface knowledge of many of these issues. Even so, there are real signs of progress.
Before starting this blog, I knew nothing of the four issues that feature in this post: the importance of walking, the power of marquee projects, the disruptive promise of e-bikes, and SUV parking charges.
I’ve also begun re-engaging with civic life. My years as a local journalist left me with a lasting respect for anyone who stands as a councillor. Talking to them now, and to others in civic groups, has been one of the year’s highlights.
Restating the context
.. which is everything. Or nearly everything. Perhaps that’s the historian in me. I draw strength from knowing my place in the world. It helps me separate the urgent from the important.
Gaza, Trump, Ukraine, the cost of living—these are urgent. But they sit within the broader challenges my generation faces. Born in 1964, on the cusp between Boomers and Generation X, I see five defining forces for my generation:
These generational challenges, refined through several years of public discourse, remain valid.
More recently I have come to believe addressing climate change is necessary but not sufficient. Safer streets, healthier neighbours, more affordable housing, stronger community ties. Barnes and Mortlake needs those too.
Notes & thoughts
These are the four most significant takeaways since the start of July, 2025.
Walking matters
Walking is the key to unlocking sustainable travel. We need people to walk to the bus stop, board the train, find the nearest e-bike or, in time, perhaps wander down to the river for a passenger boat.
Encouraging more people to walk more often is the only way to deliver the ambitions of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and the related Richmond council target for changing the modal share.
That means Barnes and Mortlake need to become pedestrian-first. At present, they are anything but.
A car-free Hammersmith Bridge is essential to achieving thisl, but only the start. The Terrace, and with it the rest of Barnes, should be transformed - more and better zebra crossings, traffic calming, removing the HGVs, better pavements and more seating and shade.
Richmond council have just launched a pedestrian project centred on The Terrace. Details are thin as the project starts but it is encouraging they have targeted this road for improvement.
Marquee projects
When I last visited the Brighton Pavilion, it left me cold. Not its location, but the ersatz nature of the rooms. I feel the same about Kew’s Palm House. From a distance it looks iconic. Up close, the illusion fades.
So news that the Palm House will be renewed as a Net Zero landmark is welcome. After five years, it will emerge restocked and reimagined.
This is a marquee project with all the right characteristics:
Relatable: tangible, not abstract
Narrative: the project is a way to explain change to those not paying daily attention
Memorable: easy to repeat accurately
Representative: illustrative of wider shifts
Significant: standing out amid other change
The Barnes Green project by Community BlueScapes is the only initiative in Barnes or Mortlake worthy of the label currently. The recent to and fro over plans show the extent to which it had connected with residents. A revitalised Terrace would be one. The Mortlake Mash-Up will probably reveal others.
Marquee projects make a difference. As we continue to renew the area in this decade like every other, we need them to help people make sense of the profound changes underway in our (corner of the) world.
Lime bike summer
Cycling’s share of transport in London is edging up but is still less than 5%. In some inner areas it is much higher. In the City for example there are now more journeys by bike than cars.
No matter how small, this long-term change in road share is provoking some irritation.
And I am not talking about that jingle.
Friction remains with some car drivers who refuse to accept any slight inconvenience caused by loss of road space. Added to that some pedestrians are struggling with the proliferation of bikes. E-bikes, provided by operators such as Lime and Forest, are at the heart of this. They are everywhere, including on ‘my pavement’ and outside ‘my house’.
Two factors complicate matters.
First, the proliferation of ‘false’ e-bikes: essentially electric motorbikes, they are often used by delivery riders and an uncapped speed limit. They only look like an e-bike. They can feel threatening because of their speed and size.
Second, the demographics: many (true) e-bike users are young, which makes their confidence on two wheels feel threatening to others.
We must not allow the difficulties managing these shared e-bikes to put at risk their long-term value to our city, including Barnes and Mortlake.
The Mayor of London has set the long-term ambition to get Londoners out of their cars and onto pavements, bikes or public transport. Progress is slow. Very slow.
There is some good news.
Lime’s user surveys indicate that about 8% of Lime e-bike trips would have been taken by car if the e-bike hadn’t been available. That seems modest but it scales up significantly: Lime estimates its service eliminated roughly 1 million motor vehicle trips in London (cumulatively, since launch up to 2023) by substituting those journeys with bike rides. In distance terms, over 2.6 million kilometres of would-be car travel have been averted thanks to Lime in London.
Just as important, the uptake of shared e-bikes are introducing young Londoners to cycling and encouraging last behaviour change.
Lime, for instance, found that 20% of its London riders were entirely new to cycling in the city when they first tried a Lime e-bike. They claim nearly half of Londoners aged 18–34 use its bikes weekly, with an average rider age of 33. Santander data showed e-bikes making up 8% of hires with only 4% of the fleet. There seems to disproportionate demand for e-bikes. That supports the claim that electric assist is doing the heavy lifting for uptake among younger riders.
Maybe this is why there has been a surge in e-bike use of Hammersmith Bridge since the re-opening in April. The number of bikes crossing the bridge have doubled, year on year.
If most, even some, of today’s 30-year-olds are still riding at 45, the Mayor’s transport targets may finally be in reach.
And that would make a major contribution to reduce Richmond borough’s second largest source of carbon emissions - transport.
SUVs parking
I do not like SUVs. At least not in London in 2025. They were more suitable romping through Texas when I visited in spring, this year.
There are are so many reasons why they should be discouraged in London:
They take up more space
They wear out roads faster
They’re more dangerous to people walking and cycling
They produce more carbon emissions
They pollute more through tyres and brakes
SUV market share, like their girth, is growing. Intervention is required as soon as possible. SUVs are now the best-selling type of new car in the UK. And like most cars sold in the UK, they are growing in size.
Parking charges are one of the simplest and most effective ways to influence car owner's behaviour.
National government sets the framework, but local councils still have room to act. With cars growing ever larger, Richmond could phase in higher residential charges, first linked to emissions, then to weight. Until now they have refused.
Other notes & thoughts
As the UK government considers what, if anything, to do about Hammersmith Bridge, there are lessons to be learnt elsewhere on the Thames. Changes in east London suggest that charging for only some of the bridge crossings - say, Chiswick and Hammersmith - would do little or nothing to help any which are left free to use - say Putney.
Experimentation is good. I learned that in software. Experiment, then scale. Community BlueScapes has adopted this approach with Kitson Road. The whole street is an experiment. Amazing.
Solar PV could be the first collaborative project my neighbours. But not just yet. There’s much I need to better understand.
Retail occupancy remains high across the area. Indeed as one familiar national chain closes - Côte, adieu - another new local restaurant opens. A good swap. Welcome to Omm on White Hart Lane. Excellent food and value.
Finally, I was offered a new piece of advice this week: follow the three P’s rule.