Leading business entrepreneur and political figure, Farah London has urged the London Mayor and the City of London Corporation that the Square Mile should be made accessible to black cabs.
Farah, in her open letter to the Lord Mayor, Alderman William Anthony Bowater Rusell, highlighted the concern about the plan to close Bank Junction to traffic. She further described that the closure could affect businesses and force firms to relocate to other parts of the London.
She wrote, “Unless reasonably free flow of vehicles through the junction is allowed again, there will be mass disruption to businesses, workers, residents and visitors, and most importantly a long-term negative effect on the City of London trade and future. Certainly, the pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the City, but to further restrict accessibility would be absolute insanity.
“Future pedestrianisation of Bank junction would be a ‘nail in the coffin’ to many Cities for businesses. They need footfall from other parts of London. They need a lifeline – not to be pushed under.”
Supported offices will relocate out of the city due to the closure of the Bank Junction. Already, accessibility for clients to visit has caused inconvenience. It has led to meetings being scheduled outside the City of London. Business is after all, the main reason why visitors come to the City of London. Our essence is commerce rather than the strolling, sitting and resting emphasized by the ‘All Change at Bank Project Team’ in their call for comments.”
She also described about her own ordeal she faced due to this restrictions in the Square Mile.
She said, “I live in Tower Hill and ordered a black cab to the Ned for a particularly important meeting, this should have taken a journey time of 5 minutes in total, however due to the closures, the driver was required to take a longer route through to St Paul’s Cathedral and then back up again.”
In the month of April, the City of London has launched its new “All Change at Bank” aiming to close the area further.
This project follows the controversial “Bank on Safety” scheme making it permanent in the September 2018 restricting wheelchair access black cabs. This project is aligned with Transport for London (TFL) increasing the passenger capacity which will complete by the end of 2022.
The City of London Corporation (COLC) has launched the consultation including two questions for special interest for users who largely rely on London’s taxis.