Thread by @DavidBurgess73

OK, so I attended the @streathamaction #streatham Wells LTN meeting last night, and whilst there have been a few comments swirling around on this platform, there's alot to be said about it. Buckle up, here comes a long 🧵

There were a lot of strong feelings at the meeting, and the headline figure is that 95%+ felt that the consulatation hadn't been done properly, and that residents feelings weren't fully taken into account. As the local councillors pointed out, it is too late for all that

as we have now passed the consulatation phase, and this is now all about the design. It has also been pointed out that councillors ran on an LTN platform, esp @StreathamLabour which has won the majority, so that is democracy in action. I think that whilst some will disagree

that is the nature of our system, that not everyone gets what they want, so an LTN is coming and everyone just has to accept that the trial will happen. And later on we will move onto what a trial means (SPOILER: no one knows). So before we get into some of the areas of concern

there have been some on this platform saying that the meeting displayed "the worst of human behaviour" and that is was a "braying mob". Now, both sides can be guilty of over-inflating, but let's look at this. The vast majority of people who spoke were polite and eloquent.

They waited their turn and spoke about the specific concerns that they have. There were a few in the minority who tried to take over and shoted too much, which did not help, and were told to let others speak by people around them. And @streathamaction and @NeilSalt2019 could

have done a better job at controlling some of this. There's also no excuse for any personal abuse of individual councillors, as pointed out by @PeoplesMomentum's @Martin_Abrams - personally I didn't hear that from the crowd, and those individuals who did say that to him

should have been removed. No excuse for personal insults. But to brand the 250 people as badly behaved is to diminish what was being discussed. And as an elderly woman near me said, "it might help if you weren't on your phone when people are speaking"

that might have helped. But let's look at this on the upside, it was a meeting where local residents were able to point out the issues they had - what were they? The main one was a concern that Leigham Court Road, which is up 26% in traffic since Streatham Hill LTN

would get much more traffic and pollution, which would seriously affect residents, @Juliansprimary and @Dunraven_School. All councillors agreed that LCR was affected too much by the LTN and changes were needed. Let's see what happens there. Images of the new street narrowing

schemes on LCR (and others) were roundly ridiculed as being unrealistic. And it was hard not to feel heartbroken by the lady in the wheelchair who said that due to LTNs elsewhere, and what is coming here, she is a prisoner in her own home and will be totally isolated. The elderly

residents also felt that they were being penalised because they aren't able to ride bikes or scoot around, and essential services are going to be so much harder to get to. Cyclists also expressed reservations about the plan, who should benefit more, as the roads that are being

closed off to traffic already feel safe to them, but it is the boundary roads that will become a massive danger. But look, I could go on, and some of it simply won't be helpful! I hold my hands up as someone who doesn't want the LTN, but it is coming, so we have to try and

adapt and make the best of it for EVERYONE (not just for some on Valley Road who don't like cars 😉). I had a long chat with @MalcolmClark77 last week and have been thinking deeply about how to make this work. And my conclusion is that this has been really bad politics! So...

we all know the best way to get change is to do it incrementally, and make it so people don't really notice! Yes we all want better air, fewer cars on unnecessary journeys, safer streets etc, but @lambeth_council are using the sledgehammer/nut here. I think there would be huge

support for an LTN scheme that worked for the whole community. Simple steps to take include better public transport, infrastructure that includes electric charging on all streets to encourage greener cars, accepting that "parklets" are a hopeless ideal, but here's the big one

introduce the LTN as it stands with one MAJOR difference. Don't block the roads, but use Auto Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to allow residents to come as they need to for work, medical reasons etc - fine those who want to rat run, and spread the cars across roads. It is worth

a trial to see how that works, whether it need so go further is for another day. But I bet you'd get pretty big buy in (as has happened in Croydon and Fulham). I did say I'd come back to the trial element - haven't seen anything published with KPIs for success of the scheme

Couple of things to finish on. It was good to see councillors there to engage, but disappointed that @RezinaChowdhury refused to come, and that we heard that @lambeth_council won't engage with large meetings, only small ones. It doesn;t help your cause, does it? And finally,

and perhaps most importantly, there was huge concern that women were feeling more vulnerable in terms of safety, at the prospect of the LTN. That cannot be ignored and needs to be answered before this all happens. Well, that's the end of the longest thread I've ever done, and

if you stayed with it, congratulations! Thanks to all who showed up yesterday. I hope everyone will be listened to, and a reminder to everyone to be respectful if you disagree with each other. I hope the consultation on design will be extended, and give residents a real

opportunity to feedback via postal info, knocking on doors etc. Better to spend another 6 months getting it right, I think we'd all agree. Happy Christmas to everyone in the Streatham Wells area, let's hope for a productive start to 2023