Elephant and Castle

Harper Road local area enhancements

There are three projects currently underway in the vicinity of Harper Road contributing to better local facilities, improved transport infrastructure and an enhanced neighbourhood setting. The work is all part of existing Elephant and Castle or borough wide programmes with delivery of the three strands in Harper Road occurring within similar timeframes.

Please see links below to the separate consultation pages to see current design proposals and previous consultation reports.

Street improvements

We're improving the Harper Road street environment and public realm alongside the Dickens Square Park redevelopment and shopfront improvements.

Street improvements are being designed using the Healthy Streets approach as recommended in London’s Transport Strategy, which aims to encourage people from all walks of life to walk and cycle more by making the street environment more pleasant and safe. Confirmed funding sources include internal budgets, section 106, and devolved highways.

Traffic reduction

We're continuing to work together with the community to reduce motor vehicle dominance in the street. With community support we've trialled width restrictions since March 2018, which have proven to be successful in drastically reducing large vehicle traffic through the area, increasing the number of cyclists and have caused only limited traffic displacement. The trial width restrictions have resulted in much improved air quality, particularly outside the local school, where NO2 levels have now dropped to below EU limits. The measures are being made permanent in Autumn 2019, subject to statutory consultation, with the design amended to facilitate emergency vehicle access. We're also exploring additional ideas to reduce traffic further, as part of delivering a wider proposed strategic cycle route from St Georges Circus to Falmouth Road (link to project page to be provided).

Programme

Timescales have been coordinated with those for the park redevelopment.

• Trial period for width restriction - March 2018 to Autumn 2018 (monitoring has now finished)
• Informal consultation - late October to 9 December 2018 (incorporating width restriction and alongside park refurbishment consultation)
• Decision making and statutory consultation on width restriction - Summer 2019
• Construction of width restriction (subject to statutory consultation) - Autumn 2019
• Decision making and statutory consultation on street design - Summer/Autumn 2019
• Construction of street design - Winter 2019/20

Supporting information

• Traffic counts (Excel macro .xlsm format): April 2017 ^{(xlsm, 13.7mb)}, October 2017 ^{(xlsm, 13.7mb)}, November 2017 ^{(xlsm, 12.3mb)}
• September raw traffic counts
• Reports related to width restriction (NO2, traffic)

Related transport consultations in the area

As part of their Safer Junctions  programme, TfL are working on the junction of Harper Road and New Kent Road. We're liaising with TfL about this project.

The Grid cycle route from St George’s Circus to Falmouth Road is currently at scoping stage and includes a small section of Harper Road by Borough High Street.

Dickens Square Park

Dickens Square Park has been identified as a priority for investment since 2004. There's a real need to refurbish this park to make it more accessible and address issues of significant anti-social behaviour. The project will enhance biodiversity and improve access to a green space that is of key importance to this area of the borough. New features will be introduced to encourage better use of the park and improved recreational facilities for residents and visitors of all ages, including families with children.

Programme

Four community consultation meetings took place on 5 July 2017, 27 November 2017, 30 October 2018 and 28 March 2019 (see separate consultation reports).

The detailed design is now being developed by LDA Design, informed by the preferences expressed in the fourth community consultation on the design elements. A full planning application will be submitted in July 2019.

Previous consultation reports

• Dickens Square Park Summary of Initial Feedback ^{(PDF, 1.5mb)}
• Dickens Square Park second consultation summary ^{(PDF, 686kb)}
• Dickens Square Park site plan ^{(png, 1.1mb)}
• LDA Design - Dickens Square Park establishing design principles (November 2017) ^{(PDF, 5.4mb)}
• Dickens Square Park second consultation summary appendix 3 ^{(PDF, 271kb)}
• Dickens Square Park second consultation summary appendix 4 ^{(PDF, 334kb)}
• Dickens Square Park third consultation report

Shopfront improvements

As part of the Improvements to Local Retail Environment (ILRE) scheme across Southwark, shop front improvement work is now completed on the Harper Road parade. This project involved working with shop traders to meet policy and scheme objectives and to provide an improved retail environment for individual businesses and the neighbourhood. The works included decluttering facades, painting renewing signage, lighting, improving security and creating a consistent design approach to units within the Parade.

Page last updated: 26 July 2023