Longstanding local resident Linda Seward has brought the following to our attention and we support her call for action:
Dear Primrose Hill Residents,
You may not be aware that the Camden Cycling campaign is proposing to close the southern exit of St mark’s square onto prince albert road to all motor vehicles. If implemented, this decision will have serious and far-reaching consequences for traffic, air quality, public transport and daily life across Primrose Hill.
Link here
Closing this well-used exit will inevitably cause gridlock from Camden Town through Primrose Hill Road in both directions. Streets feeding into Regent’s Park Road will become clogged as drivers are forced to reroute around a closure that serves no clear traffic or safety purpose.
Alarmingly, this proposal has been introduced during the holiday period, with a consultation deadline of 5 January, when many residents are away or not monitoring emails. I received no direct notification from Camden and only became aware through a neighbour. If this is true for you too, it raises serious questions about the transparency of the consultation process.
If approved, residents will face:
- Severe congestion and increased air pollution from stationary traffic
- Restricted access out of the area, particularly when travelling south or east
- Traffic being diverted either through Parkway, which is already chronically congested, or onto quiet residential streets north/west of Primrose Hill, which are entirely unsuitable for through-traffic
- Knock-on delays to the 274 bus, which already struggles due to Parkway congestion
There will effectively be no viable route out of Primrose Hill for many journeys. This is not traffic calming—it is traffic displacement, and the impact on residents has not been properly assessed.
Despite the scale of the change, the proposal provides:
- No credible traffic modelling
- No assessment of pollution impacts
- No consideration of effects on residents, businesses, or emergency access
- No meaningful way to object, only a poorly designed “Share Your Ideas” interface that requires multiple clicks and map pins simply to submit feedback
It is difficult not to conclude that the process has been made deliberately cumbersome.
Importantly, closing this exit is not essential for the proposed cycle route. Cyclists already navigate traffic lights at this junction, as they do elsewhere. Removing vehicle access altogether is a disproportionate response that creates far greater problems than it solves.
Many residents are also increasingly concerned about pedestrian safety, given the frequency of cyclists using pavements and crossing junctions against signals—issues not addressed by this proposal.
More broadly, this appears to be part of a wider effort to make car use for local residents increasingly impractical, regardless of necessity. The suggestion that a new “green sitting space” is needed here—immediately beside Regent’s Park and St Mark’s Church garden—defies logic when the area is already exceptionally well served by open space. Pavements here are already adequate and do not require widening.
This proposal should not go ahead.
I urge all Primrose Hill residents to:
- Visit the consultation website (link here)
- Click Share Your Ideas → Have Your Say
- Place your pin on St Mark’s Square / Prince Albert Road
- Submit your objection before 5 January
- Please also alert friends and neighbours who may not be aware
If we do not respond in numbers, this damaging change could be pushed through quietly, with lasting consequences for our neighbourhood.
Thank you for taking the time to act.
Here is the link:
