Tony Armstrong was in Guernsey to give a presentation at the annual meeting of Steps Living Streets. L-R: Mr Armstrong, Steps Living Streets committee member Judith Le Tissier and Secretary Pat Wisher.
GUERNSEY isn’t walking. The man who led the UK Government’s anti-obesity programme was stunned by how few pedestrians he saw in the island yesterday.
And Tony Armstrong, who left the Department of Health to become chief executive of Living Streets, said that given the roads in the area, the new Baubigny schools were not likely to change that.
‘I was quite surprised at how narrow it was for two-way traffic and with no pavement for most of the way, it looks dangerous to be next to a school entrance. If you are wanting to encourage kids to walk to school, then you need to make sure there are safe routes for them to do it. Having a new school is a perfect opportunity to look again at making the local area safe.’
Mr Armstrong was in Guernsey to give a presentation at the annual meeting of Steps Living Streets – the local branch.
‘The UK has the highest rate of obesity in Europe,’ he said.
‘We’re getting to the situation where one in five children in Reception year is overweight and obese,’ he said.
‘A lot of that is because kids don’t move any more and are driven everywhere.’
Mr Armstrong has a background in neighbourhood regeneration and renewal and has held senior policy advisory roles in government.
‘We are very interested in promoting walking and we believe that having safe and attractive streets encourages people to walk them,’ he said.
‘Walking for just half-an-hour a day can reduce the risk of disease in later life and, more importantly, make you feel better.’
He had been struck, he said, by how few pedestrians he had seen.
‘We hardly saw one between the airport and Town,’ he said.
‘When we got to Town, I was amazed at the size of the car parks. It looked as if every person must have about five cars.’
St Peter Port’s pedestrian areas were good and he hoped similar ones would feature more in future design.
‘Living Streets’ philosophy is not just about reducing traffic but making streets that are designed for people so they can enjoy them and socialise in them.’
Steps was formed in 2002 as Stop Traffic Endangering Pedestrian Safety, but it is keen to lose the full title’s negative tag.
While pedestrian safety will remain its primary concern, it will continue campaigning on general road-safety issues with its coordination of the Road Safety Week committee.
‘Living Streets works to bring our streets to life with more people walking in eco-friendly public spaces and their vision has inspired our work in Guernsey,’ said Steps chairman Deputy John Gollop.
‘Many of the Living Streets initiatives in the UK are relevant to Guernsey.’
Mr Armstrong said local activists and groups were the foundation of all Living Streets’ work and he was excited to see at first hand the great work Steps was doing.
Streets, he said, should not be unfriendly, unwelcoming places that were dominated by traffic.
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