HYDE PARK TRAFFIC. (Hansard, 23 March 1926)

§ VISCOUNT PEEL

My Lords, there are, of course, several proposals besides those that appear on the Paper for diminishing the amenities and reducing the pleasure which now people take in Hyde Park, but I will deal, as he has suggested them, with the two which appear on the Paper in the Question of the noble Earl. I think it will be generally admitted that no one would wish either to diminish the area of Hyde Park, or to reduce the amenities, until some overwhelming reason for doing so were given.

I would like to examine whether any such reason has been given, but first of all let me point out that these proposals 753 would entail considerable expense. Take the Serpentine, for instance. I understand that in order to leave that road open for heavy traffic the road itself would have to be largely relaid, and the present bridge over the Serpentine would have to be greatly strengthened. It would, of course, be impossible to leave the Park entirely open all night, and obviously, if you were going to leave that road open for all kinds of traffic, it would not do to have the road closed at eleven or twelve o'clock at night. It would he necessary, therefore, to bring another set of railings—and it is very difficult to find railings which are in themselves very beautiful things—along the whole of the east side of that road. I am not giving very accurate figures, because they are only a kind of general estimate, and might be a good deal exceeded, but I am advised that the price of carrying out these alterations would be something like£200,000.

As regards the east side of the Park, the proposal, I understand, is that the east road should be thrown open to general traffic. At present lighter traffic goes down the road, and the heavy traffic goes down Park Lane, and I am told by the Ministry of Transport that that arrangement is thoroughly satisfactory. Well, if this proposal were carried out, you would, of course, take away the present railing on the east side of the Park, and, in order to allow the Park to be closed at night, you would have to move that railing on to the west side of the east road—I presume carrying it a little beyond the roadway where people walk at present. This clearly would entail having a rather large series of gates constructed, one over the south road, one over the road going to the Serpentine, and one over the north road where it turns away from the Marble Arch. Further there would have to be a certain number of openings for pedestrians, who otherwise would not find it easy to get into the Park. The whole of the east road would again have to be remodelled for heavy traffic.

In addition to that considerable changes would have to be made in the entrances to the Park itself. You would have to alter the gates on the north side, and you would also have to find some new opening out of the Park at Hyde Park Corner. You would have three alternatives. You might buy and remove Apsley House, and come out in that 754 way into Piccadilly, or you might entirely alter or remodel—if you are sufficiently a Philistine to do so—the present arches through which traffic now goes; or, if you did not decide to do that, you would have to pass round the north side of these arches, and come out at a very inconvenient place for traffic somewhere opposite St. George's Hospital. All that would cause a very considerable amount of traffic, and, in addition to that, you would have to leave the strip between the Hyde Park road and Park Lane, I presume, as it was dedicated to general traffic, in the hands of the local authorities. I am not at all sure that the local authorities would appreciate having the extra cost thrown on the rates. Anyhow, the area of Hyde Park would in that way be diminished, and the extra noise, smell and general stress from all the heavy vehicles and traffic would further invade the Park and diminish its amenities.

I have consulted my hon. friend the Minister of Transport as to whether, from a transport point of view, there is any reason for invading the Park in this manner and diminishing its pleasantness, and his advice is that it is totally unnecessary on the score of traffic requirements. In these circumstances I trust that your Lordships will give me every support in resisting proposals of this kind, made by Philistines who apparently want to diminish the amenities of the Park and curtail the pleasures of the people.

THE EARL OF CRAWFORD

My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Viscount for the very reassuring speech which he has made on behalf of himself and of the Minister of Transport. Those are the two chief Ministers concerned, and I am glad to think that I need not pay too much attention to the recent vivacities of the Home Office on this subject. May I occupy two or three moments of your Lordships' time in commenting on this proposal? It seems to be assumed that new roads provide the only remedy for our transport difficulties. That really is not the case. It is not by any means the sole remedy, and one remedy which, no doubt, is bringing itself into being naturally, but which should be stimulated, is the removal from our roads of the slow-going traffic. Were this slow- 755 going traffic, which has always had an inclination to keep as near the middle of the road as possible, eliminated and replaced for business purposes by mechanical traffic, the increased user of the road would in some cases automatically multiply by 50 per cent, if not more.

In the second place, may I say a thing which is no doubt very old-fashioned, perhaps very stupid—that, in my opinion, speed in itself is not a final ideal? It is very useful when you have to catch a train, it is no doubt useful when you want to send for a doctor, but writers, speakers, and thinkers on the problem seem to imagine that speed in itself is an ideal which must be pursued and maintained at any cost. In that relation it is worth bearing in mind that notwithstanding all the congestion in London to-day, which, judging from newspaper correspondence, you would think amounted really to a serious national crisis, the speed with which you can move from one end of London to the other is more than twice as great as it was twenty years ago. That is a striking fact which, I think, must be taken into account by those who wish to run these new roads all through our towns, all through our parks, and all through the country. I am not at all sure that, commercially speaking, the value of the speed thus attained is worth having. I think that, if there were a little less speed attained in meeting engagements needless engagements would not be made, and the business men would give much more attention to the subject-matter of the really important meetings they have to attend.

Then again, I think that the new roads can be over-rated commercially. It is assumed that if you plank down a new road you are doing something which is good for the commerce of the country. I am not at all sure that that is the case. I am not at all sure that the volume of commerce justifies the expenditure 756 upon these roads, and certainly some of these roads are being monopolised to-day by "scorchers" and those who use the roads for professional trials of motor cars. I will make one final observation, strictly in reference to this proposal to take a slice off the Park. Speed is very necessary, but in my opinion speed in a huge metropolis like London must not be purchased at the expense of the health and the repose of the community. Every slice you take off Hyde Park throws back the area of repose so many yards and removes from the Park so many acres and to that extent is a direct diminution of the health and the repose of the community. We have in central London the most remarkable series of urban parks in the whole world. Nothing in France, nothing in Germany, nothing in the United States can approach them; because here they are central; elsewhere, as in Dublin and at Edinburgh, they are on the outskirts of the city. They are a. most precious asset of the Metropolis and I rejoice that the First Commissioner of Works should have spoken so strongly in their defence.