An open letter to our MP Helen Hayes
Open letter to Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
Dear Helen,
As I am sure you are aware, Warrington South MP Andy Carter has secured an urgent adjournment debate in Parliament on Monday calling for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to be scrapped if that is what residents want.
In his question to the Leader of the House on 27 October, Mr Carter said that roads in his constituency had been closed to traffic, “resulting in longer journey times and more congestion. 87% of residents in a survey I conducted who were impacted by these changes say they want things to go back to how they were… Local councillors need to listen to local residents and scrap these changes.”
In her reply, Penny Mordaunt MP said he was absolutely right and that “we do need to listen to local people, not just because that’s what their representatives are supposed to do but [because] quite often they will have the best ideas about how to manage particular situations.”
As you may recall, door-to-door surveys of residents in Court Lane, Woodwarde Road, Eynella Road and other roads in the Dulwich LTN showed that a percentage similar to Mr Carter’s survey opposed the closure of the Calton Avenue/Court Lane/Dulwich Village junction. We hear that similar percentages of residents in Turney Road and Burbage Road are against the proposed closure of Turney Road at the Dulwich Village junction.
This majority view was confirmed by the Council’s own survey last summer, when more than two-thirds of respondents living and working in Dulwich voted for the LTNs to be scrapped. In the May Council elections, more people voted for candidates standing on “scrap the LTNs” manifestos than voted Labour, which curiously made no mention of the LTNs in its manifesto or campaign materials.
Finally, as a member of the Oversight Panel of The Southwark Citizens’ Jury on Climate Change, you will be familiar with their recommendation that “Low Traffic Neighbourhoods should only be implemented if extensive engagement with broader potentially impacted areas as well as the specific area is carried out thoroughly and shows support [our italics].”
Please will you participate in Monday’s adjournment debate and support Andy Carter’s call for LTNs to be scrapped by councils if that is what the majority of local people want? Our 2,000+ supporters, and all your constituents who voted against the Dulwich LTNs, would be grateful to hear that you intend to represent our view in Parliament.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
One Dulwich