Sutherland Road Improvement Scheme

Sutherland Road has an important role in the industrial heritage of the Upper Lea Valley and having undergone a large redevelopment in recent years is now part of a new mixed neighbourhood of residential developments and growing businesses. Sutherland Road is also part of the recently Greater London Authority (GLA) accredited Blackhorse Lane Creative Enterprise Zone called the Blackhorse Collective.

With most of the residential development work complete we’ve developed proposals, supported by funding from the GLA’s Housing Zone programme to improve the overall look and feel of the area, encourage walking and cycling, and improve access for people with mobility aids and pushchairs.

The proposals aim to:

• Increase the number of trips made by active travel and public transport and improve local connections
• Reduce car dominance and increase the active use of streets and public spaces
• Create safer neighbourhood environments, including increasing road safety and improving personal security
• Improve the efficiency and safety of freight movements
• Improve air quality and green infrastructure to create more attractive neighbourhoods for people
• Improve the quality and climate resilience of the public realm
• Ensure neighbourhoods have good connections to public transport
• Create vibrant streets that help local businesses to thrive and provide places for the community to come together.

In spring 2023 we held a series of engagement events with residents and key stakeholders to help us understand key concerns and aspirations for the area to help us develop the initial scheme design. 

The events included:

• Council Ward Forum on 11 March 2023 with local residents and stakeholders
• Community Walkabout on 22 March 2023 with local residents and stakeholders
• Business Forum on 29 March 2023 with local businesses and stakeholders
• Accessibility Forum on 3 April 2023 with local organisations and stakeholders

Overall, feedback on the proposals was positive and the main points raised by the local community included concerns with parking, traffic flow, the condition of the carriageway, difficulties with moving around on foot or by bicycle, the lack of green space and trees, and issues with the interfaces between industrial and residential spaces. The engagement report for the events can be found in the useful documents list at the bottom of this page.

Between 23 June and 21 July 2023 the local community were invited to take part in the public consultation for the Sutherland Road public realm improvements scheme. Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation and shared their thoughts on the proposals.

The overall sentiment towards the proposals were: 62.5% of all responses were positive, and 22.2% were negative. This is reflected by those who live within the consultation area, showing a 59.3% positive and 22.0% negative sentiment among those respondents.

You can view the full consultation report and update leaflet in the useful documents list at the bottom of this page.

Phase 1

We started construction on improvements in Sutherland Road and to the western end of St Andrews Road (from Blackhorse Lane to Papermill Place) in December 2023. These improvements are referred to as Phase 1. 

Phase 1 improvements include introducing new speed humps on Sutherland Road and several continuous footways/blended crossings at the junctions of Sutherland Road and St Andrews Road, Higham Street and Stirling Road. 

A community planting day is taking place on 27 November on Sutherland Road. For more information, please see the flyer below in the ‘Useful documents’ section. 

Phase 2

We are now planning to progress our plans for Phase 2, which include improvements on the eastern end of St Andrews Road, from Papermill Place to Higham Hill Road.

Phase 2 proposals include the widening of footways, decluttering street furniture and installation of footway buildout with garden beds. To accommodate these improvements, the parking layout will need to be changed. Four Pay and Display spaces will be converted to resident parking to ensure the number of CPZ bays remains the same. 

The plans can be found in the ‘Useful documents’ section. 

Statutory consultation for phase 2 is now complete. We are reviewing the feedback received and write to the local community again with an update on the planned works.