The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has named London’s first-ever Walking and Cycling Commissioner. Will Norman will work closely with the Mayor in helping deliver his pledge to get more Londoners active by making cycling and walking safer and easier in the capital.
Will Norman is currently Global Partnerships Director at Nike, where he specialises in increasing levels of physical activity and participation in sports around the world, working with a range of international organisations.
As part of the capital’s biggest ever focus on walking and cycling, he will work closely with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor for Transport, and TfL to make healthy, active, non-polluting travel easier in London.
This will include pushing forward with the Mayor’s Healthy Streets programme to create a safer, more pleasant London for cyclists and pedestrians, and investing a record budget of £770m on infrastructure and initiatives to promote walking and cycling until 2021/2022.
This ties in nicely with the PASTA research project currently at work in Newham.
As part of the project, Newham residents, employees and visitors are being asked to take part in an online survey, which logs their travel habits over time.
The information received will be part of the London case study which will evaluate behavior change related to new infrastructure around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as well as all schemes which aim to promote walking and cycling in the surrounding boroughs.
The research is carried out under the coordination of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Institute for Transport Studies (Austria) with the support of an experienced consortium that includes both Imperial College London and Newham Council.
All this serves to emphasise what a great place Newham is for walking and cycling.
Not only does the borough have The QEII Olympic Park and Wanstead Flats on its doorstep but also has 22 parks across the borough including Central Park in East Ham, West Ham Park in Stratford and the north and south parks in Beckton.
There are also miles of safe and interesting walks around the docks especially the Victoria and Royal Albert Docks.
Newham also abounds with interesting and historic places that offer excellent walking opportunities with a bit of sightseeing attached. From the environmental delights of East Ham Nature Reserve through historic sites such as Abbey Mills Pumping Station through to spectacular views of the Thames Barrier from Barrier Park, there really is no reason not to get moving.
Walking is one of the simplest and most effective forms of exercise you can do. Anyone can do it and it's very easy to get started. If you find it difficult to get active, why not start walking?
Walking can improve your health, your happiness and will give you the chance to explore the outdoors, get to know your local area and meet new people..
