Petition details
For the Mayor to follow through and undo the disastrous road closures which have increased traffic, congestion, made the life of residents especially the disabled / elderly difficult and prevented the emergency services access whilst bringing no benefit to the borough whatsoever. Residents are not rat runners.
The Council has so far removed 1 LTN on Antill Road which was
restricting residents on neighbouring roads having to take a long
detour to get out of the area, so residents in these areas can only
access this. There is already enough of the rich/poor divide in the
area let’s not make it worse.
Now as a matter of urgency we call upon the council to remove all
the Liveable Streets / Bus Gates / TfL Streetspace Plan and the DfT
Emergency Active Travel Fund Schemes in the borough especially Old
Bethnal Green Road as it causing severe levels of congestion and
pollution on the boundary roads as many were put in place without
consultation or with the views of a selected few that the previous
administration admitted to. We support schemes to reduce non-local
traffic, make the streets look and feel safe however not at the
price of the local residents suffering. Installing a park in the
middle of the road next to a park makes no sense at all.
The approach the council took previously under the previous
administration was rushed and wasteful – for example, Antill
Road, there was never any cut through traffic as there was a no
right from Tredegar Road and mainly accessed by LOCAL residents.
Spending millions on closing off Bethnal Green with increasing
levels of crime as police can no longer give chase as bikes go
through the road closures, drug dealers, users all over the park,
emergency vehicles being stuck when on call. The data the council
had, did not correlate with the plans that were pushed through, no
actual pollution data was available prior to installing the
LTN’s. Wealthy developers and landlords are the only ones
that want this alongside the people who want to create a divide
between the rich and poor residents of the borough.
The people have voted and we ask the council to stand by its
commitment to listen to the residents of Tower Hamlets and deliver
on the promises made. Let it not be for a few but the many.
Disabled residents are having difficulty getting around e.g. taxis,
ambulance transport are either taking too long to transport them or
not turning up at all. Finding a parking space is taking an extra
15-20mins longer. Local businesses around the LTN’s are also
suffering as passing trade is down. A few shops have closed down
due to the LTN’s.
We all want to address the long-standing issues in the borough like
bad health, air quality and congestion so the council needs to
abolish all the absurd schemes that only benefit the few and make
the many suffer. For example, Hackney Rd, Cambridge Heath Rd &
Bethnal Green Rd residents are now suffering while landlords on Old
Bethnal Green Rd see their property values increase. Growing
numbers of families, older and disabled people have been sharing
shockingly negative stories due to the schemes to their health,
safety, community and quality of life thanks to the schemes.
We also propose that we move the red chairs that currently sit in
the middle of the road on Old Bethnal Green Rd a few metres into
Middle Green so the residents that it is a lifeline to can enjoy
from there.
We need the council to verify all the completed consultations as we
suspect non- resident Pro LTN groups / Cycling lobbies have been
completing these. Also, the petition name “Save our safer
streets in Tower Hamlets” needs to be verified. The council
has a responsibility to make sure this is accurate as the residents
come first.
It is the right time to take it all out, the council previously
didn’t work with the people and there were cheaper and better
ways to improve the streets of Tower Hamlets, so now finally listen
to and address the concerns of the residents of Tower Hamlets. This
will benefit everyone’s health, wellbeing and safety
Let’s rebuild Tower Hamlets once again...
This Petition ran from 28/09/2022 to 10/01/2023 and has now finished.
1210 people signed this Petition.
Council response
Thank you for your petition which you presented at Council meeting on 18th Jan.
The Liveable Streets scheme has been in place for nearly 18 months, and this has allowed for an analysis against its key objectives and consideration of the impacts on all residents and stakeholders.
We have received feedback from residents and stakeholders reporting some adverse impacts from the scheme. Data shows that there has been an impact on local bus services and displaced traffic on local and boundary roads. Concerns regarding access to vital familial and social networks, as well as an economic impact on small businesses – ranging from shops to taxi drivers, market stallholders to delivery men and women – have also been raised with the council. Working with stakeholders such as the emergency services has shown there have also been some level of impact on access.
In the summer of 2022, the council undertook a first stage consultation to gain a better understanding of public opinion on the Liveable Streets scheme and have received feedback from residents and stakeholders which has allowed us to develop our proposals further. The results of each consultation can be found on the Talk Tower Hamlets Pages for Bethnal Green and Brick Lane.
The consultations launched on 30th January and closed on 19th February 2023. A decision will be made after consideration of the outcome of this consultation and the data.
Kind regards,
Dan Jones
Director, Public Realm