The Dulwich Alliance’s position on supporting political parties and/or fielding candidates at the May 2022 council elections
9 November 2021
The Dulwich Alliance is an alliance of residents’ associations, shops, businesses, health centres, sports, fitness and dance centres, and campaign groups working together to create a better and fairer solution to traffic and travel in the Dulwich area.
We oppose the current and planned road closures and timed restrictions that Southwark Council have introduced in Dulwich, as they displace traffic on to residential roads with schools and health centres, discriminate against elderly, disabled and other vulnerable residents and their carers, and damage the livelihoods of local shops and businesses.
We are increasingly being asked if the Dulwich Alliance will support a political party opposed to the current measures or, if none of them specifically pledges to do so, put up independent candidates to oppose the incumbent councillors, all of them Labour, in the wards most affected by the Dulwich LTNs, at the May 2022 council elections.
We have not so far taken a political position on the implementation of these measures. Several members of our alliance have a constitution that prevents them from doing so. Others do not have a mandate from their supporters. However, we have not ruled this out. In the meantime, we will continue to highlight the positions of all political parties and candidates on the Dulwich LTNs.
If any political party or candidate commits to measures the Dulwich Alliance wants to see – specifically removing the 24/7 road closures, improving east-west public transport, improving inclusion for elderly, disabled and other vulnerable sections of our community, reducing traffic on residential roads and supporting local shops and businesses – we shall communicate this to all our members and their thousands of supporters.
In the meantime we will continue to do all we can to persuade Southwark Council, local MPs, and current local councillors to remove the 24/7 road closures, go back to the drawing board and start again. The Council has to take a consensual and inclusive approach to traffic reduction, not one that is imposed by diktat and which favours some sections of our community at the expense of others.