Agenda item

For Members to consider any petitions with more than 200 signatures on which a debate has been requested, in accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme and Standing Order 66.

NOTED

(1)      the following petitions presented at the meeting:

·                Josie Warshaw, supporting the introduction of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods across the borough;

·                Sarah Dever, objecting to the introduction of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in the Crickelwood area and seeking assurances around public consultation, displaced traffic and equalities.

(2)      The response from the Lead Member for Regeneration, Property & Planning to both the deputations and petitions, which highlightedthe Council’s responsibility to address the climate emergency and related public health issues, whilst also acknowledging the need to engage with residents and key stakeholders to ensure any action taken worked for all parties.  As part of the response, the opportunity was taken to outline a number of Active Travel initiatives the Council had introduced to address these issues (including expansion of the School Street Programme & Cycling Networks).  The petitioners were also advised that the Council would soon be publishing its draft Long Term Transport Strategy, which would outline the ambitions for transport within the borough and how this would also contribute towards addressing the climate emergency and related public health issues.  The Lead Member also encouraged residents to reflect on changes that could be made to their own lifestyles in order to address these issues, whilst providing an assurance that the Council would seek to work with residents in order to develop the necessary infrastructure to support such changes.

Moving on the Mayor then advised members that she had agreed to accept under the Council’s Petitions Scheme two petitions for presentation at the meeting, due to the number of signatures each contained, which both related to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

The first of these was in support of the introduction of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) across the borough with Josie Warshaw as lead petitioner.  The second was objecting to the introduction of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in the Cricklewood area and seeking assurances around public consultation, displaced traffic and equalities with Sarah Dever as lead petitioner.

The Mayor advised that unless otherwise indicated by Members, she intended to allow each of the nominated speakers up to five minutes to address the meeting in order to present their petitions.  She would then provide Councillor Tatler, as Lead Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning with an opportunity to respond jointly to the issues raised, for which she would also allow up to five minutes.

As no issues were raised in terms of the approach outlined, the Mayor then moved on to welcome Josie Warshaw to the meeting and invited her to present the first petition, with the following issues highlighted.

Josie Warshaw began by thanking Council staff for their hard work in implementing LTNs across the borough given the challenge of the pandemic.  In supporting the benefits of LTNs, she highlighted the positive impact the schemes had in tackling air pollution, road safety, traffic congestion along with their wider environmental, social and health benefits including supporting the move away from cars and towards more active forms of travel.

Highlighting the potential for LTNs to deliver long term transformative change as part of the recovery from the pandemic, she also recognised the importance of local engagement as crucial to the success of LTNs and welcomed the ongoing engagement, monitoring and evaluation of the trial schemes taking place across the borough.

The risks of taking no or only minimal action or removing schemes prematurely prior to them bedding in and their impact being monitored were also highlighted.  In representing the views of Healthy Neighbourhood Groups across the borough she ended by outlining how the petition was designed to express support for healthy neighbourhoods as a means of improving air quality, reducing traffic, increasing active travel and providing safer space for cycling, improving physical and mental health as well as community relations.  Given the social and safety benefits associated with LTNs the Council was therefore urged to continue with its active travel plans and ensure LTN schemes remained an integral part of this process.

The Mayor thanked Josie Warshaw for presenting her petition and then welcomed Sarah Dever before inviting her to present the second petition on which the following issues were highlighted.

Sarah Dever began by advising that she was speaking on behalf of a number of residents in the Cricklewood area who felt that local LTNs introduced in the Olive Road and Dollis Hill areas had been implemented without adequate consultation, notification or monitoring of their impacts. She felt that LTNs had made traffic in the area worse, resulting in increased pollution, noise and danger to pedestrians which had resulted in a negative impact on local residents and also safety concerns in relation to emergency service access.

Concerns were also highlighted in relation to the community engagement process around the Healthy Neighbourhood Schemes being led by Living Streets.  Highlighting that her petition contained over 1000 signatures members were asked to consider the immediate reversal ofthe road closures in Cricklewood arising from the roll-out of LTNs.  This was on the basis they were not felt to have delivered any of the reported benefits in terms of social distancing or in providing a more conducive environment for walking and cycling and instead were felt to have created an increase in pollution and traffic as well as reducing road safety.  It was therefore felt they had failed to achieve their original objectives or provide value for money.

In terms of future action, the petition also called on the Council, prior to implementation of any further schemes to:

·                undertake a full public consultation in each area including provision of modelling data and metrics to demonstrate how the potential impacts had been assessed and with details on how the effects of any changes would be evaluated with a clear timescale.

·                seek to ensure that any scheme did not lead to the displacement of traffic from one area to another in order to avoid worsening air pollution and congestion.

·                undertake a full Equality Impact Assessment for each area, including surrounding roads, before any changes were implemented.

·                avoid road changes creating an unfair disadvantage on anyone living in an LTN area, particularly groups protected by the Equality Act 2010.

·                ensure that any road closures and filters avoided dividing communities or adversely affecting local businesses.

·                ensure that the emergency services were fully consulted and their concerns addressed to ensure they did not experience any delays due to displaced traffic or restrictions.

In summing up, Sarah Dever encouraged the Council to ensure local residents and stakeholders were fully consulted prior to the implementation of LTNs and any associated introduction of ANPR cameras to enforce the schemes and that local residents and businesses were not unfairly discriminated against by their implementation.

The Mayor thanked Sarah Dever for presenting her petition and then moved on to invite Councillor Tatler, as Lead Member for Regeneration Property and Planning to respond to the comments raised under both petitions.

In response, Councillor Tatler began by highlighted the Council’s responsibility to address the climate emergency and related public health issues whilst also acknowledging the need to engage with residents and key stakeholders to ensure any action taken worked for all parties.

As part of this approach, the opportunity was taken to outline a number of Active Travel initiatives the Council had introduced to address these issues (including expansion of the School Street Programme & Cycling Networks).  The petitioners were also advised that the Council would soon be publishing its draft Long Term Transport Strategy, which would outline its ambitions for transport within the borough and how these would also contribute towards addressing the climate emergency and related public health issues.  She also encouraged residents to reflect on the changes that could be made to their own lifestyles and behaviour in order to address these issues, whilst providing an assurance that the Council would seek to work with residents in order to develop the necessary infrastructure to support such changes.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Tatler for her response and advised that this now concluded the consideration of both petitions.