Archives for September 2021

The Dulwich Alliance has written directly to Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, to ask him not to fund the Dulwich LTNs because they fail to pass the tests he outlined in his letter to councils on 16 October 2020. You can see the Dulwich Alliance letter here.

The Sunday Telegraph picked up on this in a news story today, 26 September 2021, under the heading “Shapps urged to scrap low traffic scheme”, reporting that “Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, is being urged to intervene to scrap a series of low traffic neighbourhoods after a council survey found two out of three people wanted them abolished.”

In the longer online version, decision-maker Cllr Catherine Rose is quoted as saying, “This was never a ballot, and there are strong views on both sides of the argument.” Why is the Council persisting in making this into a battle rather than trying to bring the community together with a better and fairer scheme?

If you want to comment on the Council’s latest proposals for the LTNs, email streetspace@southwark.gov.uk, copying in catherine.rose@southwark.gov.uk, by tomorrow, Monday 27 September. You can view the Council’s report on the Dulwich Streetspace Review here

Hidden in the paperwork released on the evening of 17 September, with the report on the Dulwich Streetspace recommendations, are the results of the consultation. Two out of three people living and working in the Dulwich LTNs who responded to the survey rejected each one of the Dulwich Streetspace measures, opting instead for ‘return it to the original state’. The majority of local people (see our summary of results here) do not want the scheme. Despite this, the Council is pushing ahead, with just minor changes. Read our statement below (attached here if you want to circulate on social media).

A sham process: our initial response to the Dulwich Streetspace report, published on 17 September 2021

Southwark Council has carried out a flawed consultation on the Dulwich LTNs.

But the results of its survey (buried deep in the paperwork) show that 2 out of 3 of those who answered from all three Dulwich LTNs rejected the experimental measures and opted, in each case, for “return it to the original state”.

Two-thirds of those who responded rejected Southwark’s scheme.

Southwark’s response?

Push ahead with a (slightly modified) scheme, even though it still

• displaces traffic and air pollution on to residential streets with schools and health centres
• discriminates against those with protected characteristics, including older people, BAME people, and those with disabilities
• causes severe difficulties for local shops and businesses

By continuing with the 24/7 closure of the central junction in Dulwich Village – and all the 24/7 closures across Dulwich – Southwark is going against the idea of school streets, for which there is widespread support. Instead it is dividing the community and imposing disadvantage on the most vulnerable.

And it now demands our response with an unreasonable deadline. Southwark didn’t publish its raw data or methodology over the summer, so this is not the transparent process promised by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Kieron Williams. Instead it has given us just 10 days to read through hundreds of pages of text, tables and reports – including the key report on air quality, which seems to be modelling based on just one month of data from June 2021 – before it goes straight into the process for making the measures permanent.

The main justification for continuing with the scheme in Dulwich seems to be fear of losing central government funding for further LTNs in Southwark. Or is Southwark’s real priority the millions they’re making in fines?

This is an arrogant, unfeeling council that doesn’t listen to local people, doesn’t treat them with respect, and doesn’t care about the welfare of the most vulnerable members of our community.

We will submit our formal objections to the council by emailing streetspace@southwark.gov.uk by Monday 27 September. Please do the same, copying in decision-maker catherine.rose@southwark.gov.uk and your local councillors.  

We demand better from those we elect to serve us.

The Dulwich Alliance

19 September 2021

We hear from Southwark Council that Cabinet Member Cllr Catherine Rose will receive a report making recommendations about the Dulwich road closures on 9 September. Cllr Rose’s decision will follow soon after that.

To be clear which criteria we will use to judge that decision, we sent an email to Cllr Rose on 3 September, attaching the statement below. We have also reproduced the statement as a leaflet, which will be distributed in the Dulwich area this weekend.

We have done our very best over the past eight months to explain why the current scheme is deeply flawed.

We hope that Cllr Rose will listen to the local community.

Meanwhile, we consider our next steps.

Statement from the Dulwich Alliance 3 September 2021

The Dulwich Alliance has been campaigning for months for a fair solution to traffic issues in the Dulwich area.

The current closures and restrictions discriminate against the most vulnerable, displace traffic on to residential roads used by thousands of children to walk and cycle to school, and have caused deep division in the local community.

There is no evidence that the measures decrease overall pollution in the context of a climate emergency. Instead, pollution has just decreased on some roads and increased on others.

In July, Southwark Council’s Leader, Cllr Kieron Williams, promised to:

• Provide clarity about data and methodology
• Consider the impacts for Dulwich as a whole, not just the roads where the restrictions are
• Prioritise the people most adversely affected, particularly those with mobility issues and those receiving care at home
• Work with TfL to improve public transport
• Compromise in order to get the balance right

But so far Southwark Council has:

• Published incomplete traffic data full of errors
• Denied that traffic and pollution have hugely increased on roads like Croxted Road, East Dulwich Grove and Lordship Lane
• Failed to meet its Public Sector Equality Duty by neglecting the needs of the most vulnerable
• Held a deeply flawed consultation
• Ignored the needs of high street and side street shops and local businesses, even though they’re vital to the community as a whole

A few tweaks aren’t enough – we need a major rethink.

Southwark Council has the chance to find a fair solution that brings the community together. We hope they take it. To be clear, as we consider our next steps, these are the criteria we will use to judge Southwark’s decision:

1. Have all hard 24/7 road closures been removed to stop both the huge displacement of traffic on to surrounding roads and the need for further restrictions?

2. Are any timed restrictions focused on making walking and cycling to and from school safer and easier, with hours and locations reduced to the minimum necessary (morning and afternoon, Monday to Friday, term time only)?

3. Are older residents, those with disabilities, and health professionals and carers exempt from any restrictions?

4. Are there practical solutions to alleviate congestion and pollution caused by any traffic measures on roads like Croxted Road, East Dulwich Grove and Lordship Lane?

5. Are there solutions to improve safety for pedestrians as well as cyclists?

6. Is there a renewed commitment from the Council to work with TfL and other transport providers (including train companies) to improve public transport in the Dulwich area, and to work on a community-based bus solution?

7. Does the decision address the needs of the shops and businesses that are vital to the life and economy of the local community?

It’s time for Cllr Catherine Rose to step up and do the right thing. We wait for her decision.