COUNCIL SCRAPS LTN PLANS THAT TRIGGERED ‘ATMOSPHERE OF FEAR, SUSPICION AND RAGE’
Plans for a low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) which created “fear, suspicion and rage” have been scrapped after businesses and residents “bombarded” the council with objection letters.
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham had set up a working party which drew up proposals to use CCTV cameras to try to reduce traffic in an area of West London known as Brackenbury Village.
But, more than 40 business owners in the area wrote to the council saying they feared the possibility of fining motorists from outside the area would scare off visitors.
A statement from Better Brackenbury, a working group set up by the council in 2019, has revealed the plans divided the community creating a toxic atmosphere.
The volunteers drew up a report on ways to “reduce traffic” in a so-called Clean Air Neighbourhood using CCTV cameras that fine unauthorised motorists.
However, public meetings about the proposed trial became heated as residents and business owners expressed vehement opposition to the scheme.
‘Misunderstanding, anger and division’
A statement from the group explained how the plans should be “abandoned” after opponents “bombarded the council with letters of objection”.
“This has caused a lot of misunderstanding, anger and division in our community which is very much to be regretted,” it said, adding: “There has been such a high level of misunderstanding and the atmosphere of fear, suspicion and rage created and amplified on social media platforms like Next Door, that it meant it became impossible for the council to have any form of reasonable discussion.”
The group was looking at ways to improve air quality by using CCTV cameras to fine motorists not granted permission to enter the “village”.
Opponents feared it would shift traffic to main roads causing congestion and increased pollution in other areas.
A spokesman for the business owners who demanded the plans be dropped said they were “delighted” the council had listened to “common sense”.
‘Remarkable expression of local democracy’
“We met with Stephen Cowan, the Labour leader of the council, who heard the anger from the local business community about the plans, which were for an LTN in all but name,” he said.
“He assured us that without local support there would be no scheme to endorse. Residents and businesses came together in a remarkable expression of local democracy.”
Mr Cowan wrote to the working group praising their efforts but admitted the “situation [had] deteriorated locally”.
A Hammersmith and Fulham Council spokesman said: “We don’t do LTNs in Hammersmith and Fulham. We do, however, work with residents to set up independent working parties to look at important and complex issues – because we strongly believe in doing things with residents, not to residents. It is a core to our values.
“The consultation undertaken by the working party and supported by the council did not work out well. There was an awful lot of misrepresentation long before the public drop-in presentations ever began. No consultation can work in those circumstances.
“We’re very grateful to all the volunteers who sincerely work with the council. They do it for free and work to improve things in their neighbourhoods. They are to be commended. It’s right we learn the lessons from this consultation and move on.”
2023-06-03T15:21:39Z dg43tfdfdgfd