Anti-LTN March Taking Place This Saturday
Ealing protest one of a number being held across London
Anti-LTN demonstrators in Ealing. Picture: www.gillshaw.co.uk
A march in protest against Ealing Council’s Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) schemes is taking place this Saturday (12 September).
The organisers have asked people to meet at 2pm with the protest beginning at The Quadrant, Little Ealing W5 4EE by the junction of South Ealing Road and Popes Lane.
The march will then proceed to the Lido Junction on Uxbridge Road, via Northfield Avenue. Organisers say this will be a peaceful protest to highlight to Ealing Council the concerns they have regarding the LTNs and the need for immediate consultation
LTNs involve blocking entry and exit of vehicles to neighbourhood roads using bollards and planters and have been introduced in the borough using Experimental Traffic Orders (ETOs) meaning there has been no formal consultation about them. They are meant to be temporary measures on trial for a six month period and then subject to review.
The demonstrators are claiming that rat-running is not a significant problem in many of the areas where the schemes are being imposed and they are unhappy about the lack of engagement and consultation with the community. In some cases it is alleged that the requirement for vehicles to circle around residential streets has actually increased traffic through LTN areas.
Supporters of the LTNs claim that they have already been successful in reducing traffic in areas where they have been introduced and that they are cutting pollution and making cycling and walking safer.
There are other demonstrations against neighbourhood traffic scheme proposals taking place across London at the same time including one in Lambeth. A network of residents’ groups is hoping to persuade transport Minister Grant Shapps to intervene to have the schemes abandoned.
A previous protest was held on the Broadway in Ealing on Sunday 2 August with marchers spreading out onto the road before attending a meeting addressed by Northfields Councillor David Millican and the Kingsdown Residents’ Association’s Arthur Breens.
Other meetings have been held in Waldemar Avenue W13 and Coldershaw Road W13.
An online petition against LTNs in Ealing has been signed by over 7,200 people. A counter petition in support of the new schemes has, at the time of writing, over 400 signatures.
If you want to make comments on an LTN once it is operational write to COVIDtransport@ealing.gov.uk and TrafficNotices@ealing.gov.uk including your full address.
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September 10, 2020
