Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) are being introduced in wealthier streets at the expense of poorer neighbouring roads, according to an analysis by The Times.
Average property prices within the new zones are up to 70 per cent higher than on the roads that surround them, it found.
The figures will fuel concerns that the policy of sectioning off certain areas of cities to through traffic is dividing communities and disproportionately benefiting middle-class homeowners.
Residents who live on the edge of the zones say their lives have been blighted by increased traffic, pollution and noise.
They point out that many of the cycling and environmental activists who have campaigned for LTNs live in areas that have benefited from the schemes at the expense of their neighbours.
Ediz Mevlit, a bus traffic controller from Enfield who has become a campaigner against low traffic neighbourhoods, said:
“Our local LTN is in the more affluent part and it is pushing traffic on to the surrounding roads that are less affluent. These policies have completely advantaged the wealthier people where I live including a senior figure in one of London’s main cycling groups. I find it absolutely disgusting.
I see traffic backing up my road now and my children getting poisoned. The whole area has become toxic because of this. It has literally split the community in half. It’s neighbour against neighbour. We all want reduced emissions and pollution but it shouldn’t be achieved by pushing it on to your neighbours.”
Following the first lockdown in March, councils took advantage of emergency legislation and central government funding to introduce LTNs, usually without any local consultation. In London alone, at least 96 such schemes were introduced between March and December.
The schemes vary but usually involve creating an enclosed area where there are a set number of entry and exit points to prevent through traffic. Roads within the zones are often blocked with bollards, planting boxes or enforcement cameras, allowing only pedestrians, cyclists and buses to pass.
Councils argue that the schemes are necessary to combat the growing problem of “rat running” as more motorists are led on to residential roads by satellite navigation apps looking for the shortest route. They say that the schemes will help beat the “climate emergency” by encouraging residents to stop using cars for shorter journeys.
Opponents argue that the schemes divert traffic to other roads instead of cutting journeys overall and are worse for the planet because of increased congestion on boundary roads.
The Times compared average property prices over the past five years on nearly 250 streets across and around five low traffic neighbourhoods — four in London and one in Birmingham. It found that prices were on average 27 per cent higher within the zones than on the boundary roads.
In the case of the West Ealing South LTN, properties within the zone were 70 per cent more expensive on average.
Experts predict that this gap is only likely to widen over the coming years. Paul Wellman, of Savills, the estate agent, said the evidence from one of the first LTNs introduced in Waltham Forest five years ago shows house prices within the zone have increased more than 50 per cent faster than in the rest of the borough.
He said: “The reduction in traffic with more livable neighbourhoods is clearly something people put a value on.”
Supporters of LTNs say that most people live within residential areas rather than on boundary roads, which are often main or mixed-used roads and that measures should also be taken to alleviate traffic on these roads.
Evering Road, top, and Northwold Road, both in Hackney, east London, are overwhelmingly residential but in September, Evering became part of the Hackney Downs LTN and had bollards put in the middle to prevent through traffic while Northwold became the northern edge of the zone.
Residents of Northwold complain that they suffer extra traffic, much of which used to run along Evering. They question why residents of Evering are deemed worthy of a quieter road at their expense.
Rightmove says house prices on Evering, which is mostly lined with grand Victorian homes, are 33 per cent higher than Northwold, which has a large number of council flats and smaller terraces.
One resident of Evering Road is a prominent Green Party member who has been vociferous in support of LTNs.
In the Times, they chose not to name him but, when asked why the residents of Evering were more deserving of a quieter road, he said “A recent study found that such schemes do not disproportionately benefit better-off households. Still, it is important to get the full consent of local people when it comes to changes to their community, and I have encouraged all residents to engage in the consultation on this scheme.”
Source : The Times
Pollution rises in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
It’s been reported in the Telegraph that an analysis of quantities of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a dangerous greenhouse gas, at 11 Wandsworth streets with Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) schemes was higher when residential roads were closed but lower when the schemes were halted and opened back up to cars.
The trials were halted in September because of problems the emergency services were having with access but the realisation that LTNs were not quite working as claimed by the bike brigade evangelists put paid to them.
TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :
Simple question. How can London Cycling Campaign (LCC) genuinely believe they are representative of London?
The ethnic makeup of London is just over 40% Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME).
The ethnic makeup of LCC is 6%.
LCC states that its goal is to “make sure that everyone who cycles, or wants to cycle, has a voice in Greater London”.
If this is true how is it that only 2 out of 33 of its people seem to be BAME?
How does LCC have any idea what the barriers to cycling might be for a Muslim woman living in Mile End?
At a wild guess LCC has not got clue one.
Image below from a Hackney residents group: LTN closures hitting women the hardest
But that doesn’t appear to matter to the London Cycling Campaign.
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