Government Reviewing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

Sunak says Labour policies 'quite anti-motorist'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to Hayes Village, a new housing development under construction by Barratt Homes in Hayes, west London, on July 27, 2023. (Pete Cziborra/PA)

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) across the country are currently under review, the Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed on Sunday.

It comes after The Telegraph said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ordered the review as part of his plan to take a “pragmatic and proportionate” approach to meeting the target of reaching net zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in 2050.

During the wide-ranging interview in which Mr. Sunak sought to convince voters that he’s a better choice than opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister accused Labour of being “quite anti-motorist.”

Labour has hit back at the Conservative Party, calling its criticism of LTNs “pure hypocrisy” as the government has “accelerated and funded the use of LTNs.”

LTNs Under Review

In an email to The Epoch Times, a DfT spokesperson said, "Local traffic measures must work for residents, businesses, and emergency services.

“That’s why we are reviewing the impact of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods introduced by local authorities and will provide more details in due course.”

An LTN, which some would call a 15-minute city, uses barriers, planters, bollards, or road signs to stop motor vehicles from entering an area at all times or some of the times.

The scheme grew from London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s “Mini-Holland” pilots to build Dutch-style cycle infrastructure in outer London boroughs. They sprung up across the country after Westminster began funding them in 2020 as part of its £5 billion package to overhaul bus and cycle links outside London.

The DfT previously said the scheme would help reduce car dependency, and in turn reduce pollution, traffic danger, and congestion and improve health by making people more active.

But critics of the scheme said it merely pushes these issues elsewhere and would damage businesses in the zones.

Bollards in a street in Cowley near Oxford, to create a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN), on May 5, 2021. (Steve Parsons/PA)

Earlier this year,  Transport Secretary Mark Harper ended central government funding for LTNs and called for a review of the schemes.

Mr. Harper told The Telegraph that while it’s not the central government’s job to “micromanage every single local area,” some of the LTNs were implemented during the pandemic and therefore lacked consultation.

Local Government Association: National Review Unnecessary

The Local Government Association said that while consultations are important, it’s unnecessary to have a national review of the LTNs.

LGA transport spokesperson, Councillor Linda Taylor said in a statement, “Councils are on the side of all road users and residents, and are working hard to tackle congestion, make our air cleaner, and improve the quality of life in their communities.  We want to work with government to achieve this.

“It is important that we consult with all residents and businesses to find the best solutions to ease congestion and improve air quality for everyone.

“However, it is councils who are best placed to make decisions with their communities in improving the lives of people and businesses. As democratic organisations they continually review all kinds of services and schemes based on local circumstances. Therefore, a national review is unnecessary.

“Only with long-term certainty of funding and consistency of government policy can councils invest confidently in transport schemes and help meet the government’s own target of 50 per cent of urban journeys being walked, wheeled, or cycled by 2030.”

‘Anti-Motorist’

The prime minister told The Telegraph that he has “become slightly more alarmed by the Labour Party’s position” on driving.

“It’s quite anti-motorist,” he stated.

“They’ve been critical of me for putting a fuel duty freeze in; not wanting to clamp down on eco zealots for disrupting traffic; the Welsh Labour government blocking 44 out of 59 road building schemes; ULEZ,” Mr. Sunak recounted, saying they are all examples of how Labour doesn’t understand how people live.

“The vast majority of people in the country use their cars to get around and are dependent on their cars,” he said.

Seeking to convince people he’s “on their side in supporting them to use their cars to do all the things that matter to them,” the prime minister criticised ULEZ, which stands for the Ultra Low Emission Zone, saying the policy effectively charges people to “take your kids to football practice or do your weekly shop or see a GP.”

However, the prime minister insisted that he’s reconsidering the banning of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.

“The 2030 target has been our policy for a long time and continues to be. We are not considering a delay to that date,” he said.

ULEZ is a zone in London in which drivers of higher-emission vehicles have to pay a daily charge to drive. There are other similar zones elsewhere in the country called clean air zones, but Mr. Khan’s plan to expand ULEZ is believed to have caused the Labour defeat in the recent Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election.

While the inception of ULEZ came from Boris Johnson’s Conservative Mayorship, it was not launched until Mr. Khan took office. The policy is set to go through its second expansion in August to ensnare those who drive in suburban London.

Facing pressure after the by-election from those who want a slowdown of net-zero policies as well as those who wanted him to commit, Mr. Sunak has said he wanted to achieve net zero “in a proportionate and pragmatic way that doesn’t unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs in their lives.”

Shadow Nick Thomas-Symonds told Times Radio that Labour supports “well-planned” LTNs.

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said: “The Conservatives accelerated and funded the use of LTNs, so it is pure hypocrisy to see them denounce a policy they have been instrumental in introducing and accelerating at pace.

“Measures to improve road safety around schools and in residential streets are often demanded by local communities themselves. That’s why these are decisions for local authorities and must be done with proper consultation and taking on board the concerns of communities,” she said.