News on Lambeth Safer Streets

In January 2024 Lambeth Council held a Women and Girls Night-Time Safety walk with local residents around two new proposed Low Traffic Neighbourhood areas. The purpose of the walk was to hear ideas from women about how women’s safety can be reflected in design of these potential new healthy streets schemes.

We know that women and girls use public space differently from men and boys, and experience higher levels of fear about their safety on the streets after dark. 

The Council’s Violence Against Women and Girls team collaborated with Community Street Design Officers to promote and deliver the event, the first of its kind in the borough. Members of the community, including residents and practitioners from local women’s services joined the event to share their views. 

Participants shared feedback about their experiences of using public spaces in Lambeth after dark, including of walking through the Stockwell and Slade Garden areas. Various themes arose in the discussion including the importance of lighting, clear lines of sight, clean streets, and the impact of air pollution. 

The comments shared will support the Council with the design and development of future schemes. 

We will seek to hold similar engagement events in future to ensure that the views of women and girls are reflected in the design of healthy streets initiatives. 

Residents and visitors to Lambeth are invited to report areas they feel safe and unsafe in the borough, and make suggestions for what could be improved, via our Commonplace Safer Streets Survey.

To find out more about our work to make Lambeth a borough where everyone is safe, read our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2021-27 or visit our VAWG webpages.