Text of Lambeth opposition's letter to Lambeth Council on LTNs

Dear Councillor Holland,  

In November last year, Liberal Democrats submitted our response to Lambeth’s Air Quality Action Plan.  

We outlined our concerns then about the way in which Lambeth introduces new Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods, without gathering sufficient independent data on their efficacy and without listening to residents within the affected zone and on its boundaries. 

The Liberal Democrat Group is committed to ways of moving forward that listen to and support those who want to do the right thing - the majority of residents in our borough. 

LTNs can be effective tools to encourage sustainable travel, increase footfall past local businesses, and reduce road danger. However, local authorities have to ensure they implement the right measures: in the right place, at the right time, with the right signage, led by the right evidence. 

The new Streatham Wells LTN has, unfortunately, seen many of the concerns we forewarned the Council about twelve months ago become a reality. 

It is vital that the Council now uses independent experts to compare air quality data before and after the LTN’s implementation to prove whether or not it has a positive impact, especially on roads bordering the zone. 

Likewise, data collection on the effect on bus journey times before and after implementation is crucial.  Residents have reported to us that it’s taken their buses – such as the 315 and the 417 – over 40 minutes to travel one mile. Routes down the A23 have also been affected. 

We have already written to the four headteachers of schools on Leigham Court Road (Dunraven, Julian’s, Maypole, Livity) and two headteachers of schools off Streatham Common North (St Andrew’s, Bishop Thomas Grant) to hear what impact the LTN has had on their students and staff so far. This is exactly the sort of engagement the Council should be leading on as well, to identify what changes need to be made to make this LTN a success. 

It is quite striking that, following the introduction of the nearby Streatham Hill LTN, the majority of residents (57.4%) who live in the LTN zone said that they disagreed that the introduction of the LTN had been a positive change. Over half of respondents also disagreed that it had made their area a better place to live and that it had not made it easier for them to go to local shops and services or to visit friends and family. But Lambeth has responded with apparent indifference: no substantive changes were made to the LTN. 

The same scenario is now set to unfold in Streatham Wells, with local Labour councillors not attending community meetings. The Council must re-engage with local residents and genuinely listen to their concerns about the scheme. 

To assist in that process, we would like to ask the Council to commit to publication of: 

• Air quality monitoring results on all the boundary roads of the LTN before implementation, during the first fortnight of implementation, and every two weeks subsequently.  
• Data from TfL on bus journey times in both directions before implementation of the LTN, during the first fortnight of implementation, and every two weeks subsequently from: 
  • Telford Avenue to Streatham Station (on routes 118, 133 and 159) 
  • Telford Avenue to Norbury Station (on routes 109 and 250) 
  • Criffel Avenue to Norbury Station (on route 50) 
  • Telford Avenue to Leigham Court Road/Streatham Common North (on route 417) 
  • Crown Point / Beulah Hill to Streatham Station (on route 249) 
  • Streatham / St Leonard’s Church to West Norwood (on route 315) 
  • Streatham Hill to St Leonard’s (on routes P13, 57, 201, and 333) 
• Average weekly incidents of lateness before implementation of the LTN, during the first fortnight of implementation, and every two weeks subsequently for St Andrew’s School, Bishop Thomas Grant, Julian’s School (both sites) Dunraven School (primary and secondary), Maypole School, and Livity School. 

Transparency of this kind is the best and only way to ensure that debate does not proceed only on the basis of anecdote, but on the strength of hard evidence.   

In possession of this information, and in light of residents’ experience, the Council should be prepared to change course where the evidence demands it.   

I look forward to hearing from you.  

With all best wishes, 

Councillor Donna Harris 

Leader of the Liberal Democrat Council Group