Hackney residents replace car parking spaces with parklets

Residents of Hackney are turning their unused car parking spaces into "parklets" to make the most of the streets.

The majority of those who live in the London borough do not own cars and after a council U-turn they are on the increase in the east of the city.

"Seventy per cent of Hackney residents don't actually own a car, so people are walking, cycling, using public transport," Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney, told ITV London.

"Considering that level of car ownership, I think re-purposing a few car parking spaces for parklets is absolutely fantastic and brings a community together in a way having a car parked here wouldn't."

Hackney Council are offering other residents their own chance to do something different with their kerbside area.

Originally, in 2017, the council repeatedly told Hackney Living Streets campaigner, Brenda Puech to remove her "People's Parking Bay" from London Fields.

After getting 700 signatures on a petition, Ms Puech got the council to change their minds on the matter and Ms Puench even earned a nomination for the Transport Planning Society's People's Award.

Resident Ms Puech said: "My neighbours have been enormously positive"

Someone to benefit from this change in practice is Phillippa Bannister who now has a parklet of her own.

Ms Bannister said: "No one, so far, has shouted that we're taking up their parking space."