Hackney residents urge council to ‘open our roads’ and scrap ‘excessive’ LTNs
Residents gathered outside the town hall. Photograph: Neil Martinson
Campaigners brought a council meeting to a halt as they took to the streets objecting to the ‘excessive’ roll-out of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs).
Several hundred people gathered outside Hackney Town Hall on Monday (26 January) urging the council to ‘open our roads’.
The demonstration took place during a council cabinet debate on the issue, which came after a petition calling for a ‘pause and reassessment’ of the LTN scheme garnered more than 1,800 signatures.
ShaToya Rose, who set up the change.org petition and a second on the council website and spoke at the council meeting, claimed she had received “over 500 impact statements from residents and businesses”. She also said these residents had lost faith in the Labour-run council and claimed the LTNs posed a “public health issue”.
Rose told the Citizen: “I asked people to attend the cabinet meeting on 26 January to show the scale of frustration across Hackney, and to make it clear that residents are tired of decisions being made about our roads without listening to the people who live here”.
Resident Wendy Thomas, who helped to rally residents, said the demonstration came together in just two days. She added: “Hackney Council keep coming up with these statistics saying most residents want these [road] closures.
“I don’t see that in the people that I talk to [or] where I live. It’s really inhibited us.
“I know that [the council] say they want us to have cleaner air, but they’ve got tunnel vision”.
The roll-out of LTNs in the borough began in 2020. Hackney now has 19, covering 70 per cent of eligible roads and around 50 per cent of its total area – the highest percentage of any London borough.
Proponents say LTNs – sections of road which are blocked off to cars but open to cyclists, emergency vehicles and waste vehicles – encourage people to choose more eco-friendly methods of transport and to use local amenities and shops instead of travelling further afield.
But not everyone is in favour. The Citizen previously reported residents on Chatsworth Road had petitioned the council to remove an LTN and bus gate from the area, as they claimed it was increasing congestion rather than improving it and reducing footfall for local businesses.
In Haggerston, locals claimed proposals to close Scriven Street to motorised traffic at the junction with Queensbridge Road were ‘ill-considered’.
Residents have also pointed out that not everyone is able to cycle or walk. Thomas added: “Not everybody wants to ride a bike, not everybody can ride a bike, and a bike is not suitable for everyone.
“I look at the traffic sometimes, and I feel so sorry for people that are driving. What [the council] don’t realise is that some people have to drive”.
Rose added in the council meeting: “Since the road closures and LTNS were introduced residents report longer journeys, reduced access, displaced traffic and daily disruption to work and family life.
“These are not abstract concerns. They are real life impacts being experienced every day. Residents describe missing hospital appointments, arriving late for dialysis and chemotherapy, and having to leave hours early or just avoid gridlock.”
Cllr Sarah Young, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, said: “I want to thank all the residents who have talked to us about their experiences of travelling around Hackney. ShaToya Rose, who brought the petition on Monday, told us about some really difficult stories from residents who are finding it hard to travel around our borough.
“We want to make our borough cleaner, greener and more accessible to all, which is reflected in our transport policies. Almost 90 per cent of journeys that start in Hackney are by walking, cycling, wheeling or public transport. Overall, traffic is down across the borough, air quality is improving, and people are walking and cycling more.
“Low traffic neighbourhoods don’t stop people from driving to a particular destination, but it might take longer. We have some important exemptions, for example, for blue badge holders and school buses. We are listening to people who tell us that they need to drive and are experiencing problems, looking really carefully at all the feedback and working out how we can make our streets work for everyone”.
This article was amended
Despite the massive opposition to the Council’s LTN policies and the awful lived experience of residents of increased pollution and congestion moved from one location to another, Councillor Young is firm in the face of the evidence.
But even more worrying for residents of Chatsworth Road is the devastating effect on local traders’ sustainability. Our survey shows takings slashed by up to 50% for some businesses.
When will the Council see sense? There’s not much point being able to walk and cycle past streets of empty shops.
The Council are patently not listening to their residents on this issue – and doing deals with Lime bikes which exacerbate the problem for pedestrians when they are inconsiderately blocking pavements isn’t helping. I have also been told by some taxi drivers that Hackney is getting to be a no-go area for them as the length of journeys and being unable to drop or pick up passengers from their homes or Hackney locations will make them avoid taking fares that start or conclude in Hackney. Black cabs become prohibitively expensive because of some LTNs lengthening journeys. And I mention this because – are you listening Hackney Council? – not everyone can walk or cycle…
OPEN THE BLOODY ROADS.
it isnt just the arrogance of Hackney Council that appalls me, it is their ignorance. Here we have Cllr Young accepting that some journeys have become longer due to LTNs. Well, the amount of traffic isnt just a function of the number of journeys – it is a function of the number of journeys x length of journeys. So if you lengthen the average journey, hey presto, you actually get more traffic.
And forcing a higher percentage of the traffic onto the main roads has the effect of increasing congestion there, meaning that pollution worsens, bus journeys become lower, and, hence, usage of buses is declining.
Any transport expert could have explained exactly how traffic works.( It is often counter intuitive remember, which is why building new roads to fix trffic congestion just creates more journeys!)
I understand that there were many more than dozens of residents outside TH on Monday. A Town Hall staff member told me it was closer to 200 and someone else estimated it to be perhaps 300. But anyway you look at it, that’s a lot of people for 6pm on a cold Monday night.
LTNs in Hackney reroute traffic onto RESIDENTIAL roads where poorer people tend to live. They grant even cleaner air to those who already had it (in return for votes for Labour). Yet despite claiming that they are doing this for children large primary schools with global majority intakes now have stationary and slow-moving traffic outside them for many hours every day proving that only some children matter.
Buses full of poorer residents sit in traffic behind Ocado and other vans for the richer folk now having to take a round about route to deliver goods to large houses near London Fields, etc.
LTNs divide our community showing who the Labour Party believe deserves healthier streets.
The Green (for some) Party tacitly (& openly) support LTNs because they know that there vote primarily comes from the richest segment of society ie those getting the Waitrose deliveries not the van drivers.
The Green Party stands against environmental injustice abroad but ignores it here in Hackney. They must be held to account.
I was at the meeting at the town hall where they only allowed 48 people inside despite many vacant seats. We were only allowed in the viewing gallery as if to say we were too dangerous to take part in the meeting with them downstairs.
One councillor said, get yourself a bike and get fit. If this is their attitude then the opinions of the disabled clearly don’t matter. Not every disabled individual is entitled to a badge. Not all of them drive but when taxis don’t want to accept a journey to the hospital because of the 30-40 minute standstill traffic approaching Homerton High Street then what are we supposed to do. We are genuinely ignored, it’s very very sad.
I am very happy to see this petition has raised the concerns the impact of LTNs are having in Hackney.
My parents live in Dublin Avenue and there is a bus gate currently stopping any vehicles to come through Mare Street into Dublin Avenue, it takes almost half hour at certain times of the day to go all the way around Hackney Road, Queensbridge Road and then to Dublin Avenue from Mare Street rather than just driving through Westgate Street. A car being on the road half an hour longer than necessary will cause a lot more pollution than one taking the 5 minute journey it should be. This bus gate was initially a temporary measure and timed to be 7-10am and 3-7pm in force Monday to Saturday. This was then ‘consulted’ upon and although voted against Hackney Council went ahead and put this bus gate in force 7am-7pm 7 days a week. This is more stricter than bus lane times on Mare Street. I can’t visit my parents anymore and they are of old age and have health problems because the increase in journey time is too costly, I cannot fit it around children and work. Whiston road is also closed to vehicles recently increasing the level of cars going through one way causing congestion and more fumes. Also my parents cannot go to Homerton Hospital for an appointment like they used to, a journey to Homerton Hospital from Dublin Avenue E8 takes longer than driving to Homerton Hospital from Barking because of the impact of the LTN bus gate. This is absurd that people from 10 miles away can get to a Hackney location than a Hackney resident.
I hope this petition makes a difference.
Protesting this council does not help. They did a survey, most opposed LTNs, nevertheless the council proceeded. They will listen when they are voted out. Find a labor candidate willing to oppose LTNs. Target a specific counsellor and unseat them.
The council has segregated the borough into little fiefdoms, with penalties for boundary-crossing – and exacerbated mental dystopia. They’ve forced traffic onto the clogged main & boundary roads, impacting the least advantaged who are more likely to live on or near main roads and are the biggest users of buses. Just talk to them and they’ll share that it takes much longer to get anywhere now than ever before. LTNs are a discriminatory move to keep the great unwashed away from our leafy, and many, unaffordable, side-streets. We all know LTNs have been implemented purely for income generation, not pollution prevention.
ONS 2021 Census data also shows that around 57% of households in Kings Park ward do not have access to a vehicle and more for the lea bridge ward.
Let’s take our borough back from the gentry and sack their Labour Council in May.