Living Street and The Big Lunch

Living Streets have resources for you!

July 11, 2012

Author: Emily Watts

A closed road. Children able to play freely on the street without you worrying about them. It’s pretty quiet until the neighbours come out with bunting, cakes, tables and treats. There’s a feeling of space, and everyone seems relaxed.

If you came out onto your streets for your Big Lunch, you might have found that you quite enjoyed the feeling that a closing a road can give. If that’s gotten you thinking about ways to improve your streets all year round – why not check out Living Streets website?

Living Streets Community Audit

Living Streets campaign to make safe, attractive and enjoyable streets across the UK. In Scotland over the past two years, they have been working with various community groups, from residents associations to walking groups.

In Halbeath, Fife, they used the Community Street Audit process to make improvements on their street, like having the bollards removed from the centre of the pavements so people with prams and wheelchairs could get past.

People who’ve taken part in the Walkable Communities project report that consequences go beyond improving conditions for walking. They feel that they can influence change and say that they’re more confident in approaching their issues. The connections that they’ve made with other organisations also mean that they’re able to continue to set and achieve goals.

The Living Streets website has information on local groups so you can find out what’s happening near you. You can also find information on different issues depending on what’s relevant to your area. Maybe you’d like to get fitter by walking – or maybe parking where you live is mostly on the pavement and you’d like to change that.

If coming together over food at your Big Lunch has inspired you to find ways to make your road look, feel and be better, then Living Streets have plenty of resources to help you. What could you do?