The High Court has today, 17 December, handed down its ruling in favour of Tower Hamlets Council following a legal challenge to the decision to remove three low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) schemes in the borough.
A Judicial Review was filed in December 2023 and the High Court issued its ruling today after a two-day hearing last month. The challenge focused on the legality of the council’s consultation process and the Executive Mayor’s decision to reopen Old Bethnal Green Road, Columbia Road, and Arnold Circus.
The decision to reopen three roads followed a pledge made by Lutfur Rahman during the May 2022 elections, which led to his election as Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets. The council conducted two consultations, one in 2022 and another in 2023, before the Executive Mayor made his final decision at a Cabinet meeting on 20 September 2023. The LTN on Canrobert Street and the bus gate restriction in Wapping were maintained, along with pedestrian-friendly walking routes, accessible spaces, and 33 timed closures for School Streets.
The council continues to work toward its goal of becoming a net-zero borough, investing £6 million in initiatives to improve air quality. Over the past year, emissions have been reduced by 19 per cent through increased energy efficiency in council-owned and operated buildings. Additionally, the council has planted over 1,400 trees, enhanced public spaces with better walking and cycling routes, and installed on-street cycle parking.
Other sustainability efforts include placing solar panels on council buildings, converting street lighting to LED, installing low-carbon heating systems such as air-source heat pumps, transitioning its fleet to electric vehicles, and adding more electric vehicle charging points.
Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said:
"Tackling the climate crisis and transitioning to a net-zero borough is a key priority for the council, including by investing £6 million to improve air quality and reducing emissions by 19 per cent in the last year alone. We’re exploring additional measures such as subsidised bus travel, and we’re committed to working together with residents to deliver further improvements.
“While LTNs improve air quality in their immediate vicinity, the way they had been implemented in the borough previously pushed traffic down surrounding main roads. This led to complaints about traffic congestion increasing the air pollution on main roads and negatively impacting the health of many who live on those streets, which are predominantly working-class households. The gridlock traffic caused severe delays to bus services, undermining efforts to boost public transport use - a crucial part of the strategy to reduce emissions – and concerns were also raised about the impact on residents with mobility restrictions and on emergency services, including objections by the London Ambulance Service.
“I welcome the court’s ruling that the council followed proper procedures. Although the May 2022 election established a democratic mandate to reopen these roads, I opted for further consultation to ensure the views of all affected residents could be considered.”
Notes
A11 and A12 are the borough’s most polluting roads
The two most polluting roads in Tower Hamlets are the A11 and A12 rather than the LTN areas. Both A roads are owned and managed by Transport for London (TfL) and often exceed the legal limit of 40micrograms/cubic metre for NO2. The council would like to see more done by TfL to mitigate the pollution they cause.
Liveable Streets and LTNs
Liveable Streets was introduced during the Covid pandemic. In other London boroughs they were called Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs).
The programme has delivered on some of its key objectives by reducing some traffic levels.
However, feedback received by the council shows there have also been adverse impacts, including access problems for people reliant on vehicle use for services such as medical appointments, childcare and other support networks, and the London Ambulance Service opposed such hard physical closures.
Access has also been hindered for emergency access vehicles particularly around Arnold Circus and Bethnal Green. Data also shows that there has been an impact on some local bus services, and of displaced traffic on surrounding roads and streets.
Posted on Tuesday 17th December 2024