28th August 2024 – This update report was sent to me via email from the Together organisation:
‘New transport secretary Louise Haigh has just said that the amount of taxpayer money Labour intends to funnel into cycling and walking will be “unprecedented,” support more divisive “Low Traffic Neighbourhood” (LTN) roadblocks, and more 20mph limits. This despite a large majority – close to 75% in Wales where they’ve had them for a year – being against blanket 20mph speed limits.
During the election – to more than a few laughs – Labour announced it was “on the side of drivers,” and avoided mentioning so-called “Active Travel” at all.
Even if you like the idea of the state encouraging walking and cycling, rolling out more “Active Travel” is irresponsible at best, given the Public Accounts Committee found that from £3.3 BILLION squandered on it in 2016-2021, there had been “no sustained increase in walking or cycling.”
There is an obvious democratic deficit when an ideologically-driven minority gets to impose their preferences on everyone else, but…
The good news is that all over the UK, people are getting organised and pushing back. Together supporters were instrumental in getting the previous Government to stop central funding for LTNs. And below is a summary of over 20 LTNs stopped by locals.
Together, they paint a picture of successful campaigning which may contain some tips for frustrated residents currently battling tone-deaf councils.
EXETER’s Whipton & Heavitree LTN – opposed by 82% – is just the latest…
The scrapping of Exeter’s first Low Traffic Neighbourhood roadblock recently conveyed a clear message from the people to autocratic politicians: NO, THANK YOU!
The city’s Whipton and Heavitree LTN was opposed by 82% of consultation respondents and led to the election of independent, anti-LTN councillor in May’s local elections. A vigorous ‘Stop the Block’ campaign by residents paid off when, after a heated three-hour meeting, councillors agreed to scrap the scheme.
One campaigner said: “This is a victory of common sense and has shown that the little people still have a voice in local policymaking.”
NEWCASTLE has seen three LTNs scrapped in less than a year. A trial LTN in Jesmond ended early after 77% opposed it in a consultation.
An LTN in the city’s area of Heaton was scrapped after it was found that traffic was simply re-routed onto other back streets: “There was also no data to suggest that there had been a significant shift to walking and cycling during the trial,” said a council official. “Any reduction in traffic on some residential streets … instead led to the increase in use of back lanes.”
And in Fenham, council officers had to acknowledge there had been a “’disappointing’ downturn in cycling … to levels lower than the pre-trial period.”
Voting for the option that received the greatest support from residents, councillors in EDINBURGH decided to scrap the LTN in Morningside.
“This scheme has pitted neighbour against neighbour and street against street, which is a great shame,: one councillor said. “We must never lose sight that the residents of our city at the end of the day are our employers. We have a duty to listen to them.”
In the Withington area of MANCHESTER, planters were removed after a six month trial and complaints on a variety of fronts. Residents said that traffic increased in nearby areas, access for ambulances was compromised and that the LTN wasn’t even safe for cyclists.
“My hope is that going forward there won’t be similar mistakes again,” said one. “This is a victory for community unity against the council.”
As in other areas, the scheme has left some ill-feeling in its wake. One local said the LTN had “divided the community beyond repair”, his group dubbing those responsible “holier than thou authoritarians”.
Announcing the council’s decision to scrap the Westy LTN in Warrington, the cabinet member for transport was keen to stress that the council was listening: “It is the views of local people which have, ultimately, played a central role in our decisions not to keep the LTN in place.”
LONDON – which is now the slowest city in the world, according to recent data – has seen LTNs scrapped in many boroughs.
The notorious Streatham Wells LTN in Lambeth was suspended in March after widespread media coverage of the chaos it was causing morning and night: “One image taken by a Streatham resident … showed a line of more than a dozen buses queuing in traffic along the A23 Streatham High Road.”
Announcing the scrapping of a number of LTNs in the borough, the mayor of Tower Hamlets conceded a common criticism of the restrictions: “While LTNs improve air quality in their immediate vicinity, they push traffic down surrounding arterial roads, typically lived on by less affluent residents,” he said.
In Brent, councillors voted to remove four LTNs which were opposed by 91% of consultation respondents.
In Ealing, the council scrapped seven out of nine LTNs after a report found that they increased congestion but did not improve air quality: “There are no schemes where the overall impact in terms of traffic/congestion and air quality are significant either positively or negatively”.
Many of the capital’s LTNs lasted only a few months after councils’ attempt to introduce them in the name of Covid met with stiff opposition.
An LTN in Redbridge was scrapped after little over a month amid widespread criticism about the local of consultation.
Wandsworth Council was forced into a humiliating climbdown, the cabinet member for transportation admitting: “It is clear that the LTNs are not delivering the benefits we want to see. In fact it looks like the combination of changes … are unfortunately having the opposite effect.”
And planters blocking roads in Crystal Palace were removed after campaigners took legal action against Croydon Council, which was supported by neighbouring council Bromley.
You might like to share some of these stories with other campaigners. You could post them on social media to inspire others. Please share our Twitter thread here.
And if you’re in an LTN hotspot and happen to be talking or writing to a local councillor, some of them could be used as instructive tales of what lies ahead if they continue to thwart the will of the people!
With the current Government, we are in for a huge battle for our mobility. If you haven’t already, please join Together as a member so we can keep organising and pushing back.‘
