Locals hit out at ‘rubbish’ Bounds Green LTN trial

Haringey’s first low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) has come under fire from local people for causing access problems and delays, just a week after it was introduced.

Fourteen residents and business people in Bounds Green were spoken to at random by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), with ten saying they were in favour of scrapping the LTN entirely and the rest undecided about its future – with none being wholly supportive of the scheme.

Designed to curb ‘rat-running’ traffic and encourage walking and cycling, the LTN was launched by Haringey Council on 15th August. It uses ten traffic filters – eight enforcement cameras and two physical barriers – to stop motor vehicles cutting through residential streets. According to the council, it will create a “safer, cleaner and quieter neighbourhood”.

The Bounds Green LTN is split into three distinct sections, which are then further divided into areas that in most cases can only be accessed from one of the adjoining main roads. Residents and businesses can still reach their properties, but some have had to change their usual routes. When the LDRS visited the area on Tuesday, they said the changes often meant longer journeys and difficulty accessing key routes.

There was gloom and anger among small businesses in Myddleton Road. Duman Aydemir, who works in Ayta Food Centre, said the number of customers visiting the shop had dropped off since the scheme was launched.

“Business is dying,” he said. “We sit down and look at each others’ faces – we can’t do anything else. The outgoings are still the same, but the income is not.”

Deliveries to the shop had also been affected, Duman said, arriving three days later than usual and after drivers had already visited shops outside the LTN.

Helen, who runs a sandwich bar on the street, called the LTN “a bunch of rubbish”. She said: “They have created more traffic and more pollution on Green Lanes and Bounds Green Road. Where there was not really an issue, now there is. It is definitely going to affect businesses in this road. People are not going to come here to eat with all the hassle it takes to get here.”

Tim Ioannou, managing director at Elite Bathrooms and Plumbing, branded the LTN an “absolute shambles” and said it had “hugely impacted” business, estimating a 20-30% drop in sales since it was introduced.

Trade clients had told him they would have to close their accounts because they would have difficulty getting to the outlet, and the retail side had also been affected. Customers having trouble reaching the business because of the LTN would just go elsewhere, he explained.

Mr Singh, who works in Myddleton Stores, said sales were around 50% lower and suppliers did not want to come. “We just want it [the LTN] to be removed,” he said.

All of the businesses were adamant that the reduction in footfall was not caused by the usual August holiday trends.

Just around the corner, a resident of Palmerston Road said the LTN was a “nightmare”. She said it now felt “unsafe to walk about at night” because the streets were so quiet. Explaining that she used her car to take her children to swimming and football, she said journeys that would take around ten minutes by car would take “an hour and a half” by bus.

“We are now in the Green Lanes area,” she said. “The only access is [from] Green Lanes, but everything we need to do is through Bounds Green.”

In Blake Road, in the western section of the LTN, residents were more alive to the benefits of the scheme – but none were wholly supportive. Three remained undecided, while one was firmly against.

“The quietness of the road I get, but getting around is more time-consuming,” one said. “We have to sit in traffic queues on main roads. There are a lot more cars idling and polluting the area.

“For safety, there were lots of cars piling down here [Blake Road] at 5pm and now they are not, so that is good.”

Another resident said reducing traffic was a “positive step” but the implementation was “too blunt a tool”. She said it had made accessing the North Circular Road to travel east more difficult, as she was now unable to turn down Brownlow Road.

Residents had not been listened to, she claimed, because the council implemented the LTN even though a consultation showed most were against the plans. An automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) system allowing residents to access the whole of the LTN would have been better, she said, but the council claimed it could not be done.

A mum whose two children go to different schools said she had to move her youngest child to a new nursery because it would have been impossible to do the school run as a result of longer journey times created by the LTN. But the street was “a lot nicer” following the reduction in traffic.

“It is a massive inconvenience,” she said. “But because I am home more, I can see the benefits more.”

A few doors down, an expectant mother was strongly opposed to the LTN, pointing out that it would be difficult for her to walk or cycle. “I’m not going to walk an hour to pick up some food,” she said.

About to set off to an appointment at North Middlesex Hospital to the east, and with the usual access route to the North Circular now blocked off, she was worried about how the journey would go. “On this road, everybody has a car,” she said. “I can understand it if you live in an inner-city area, but if you live here, you need a car.”

Among the criticisms commonly levelled at LTNs is the claim they displace traffic on to boundary roads. Supporters of the schemes often claim such traffic eventually reduces as people shift to other modes of transport. But on Durnsford Road, which marks one of the Bounds Green LTN boundaries, there was opposition to the scheme.

A resident who gave up her car three years ago said her son had asthma and she feared pollution would be made worse by “pushing more cars on to main roads and making them stand in queues for longer”.

“So many families here have young children,” she added. “For those with young kids, it is not practical. To be told ‘go car-free’ – I think it is quite insulting.”

Another resident said: “I get what they are trying to do, but it doesn’t really help people in this road. Just pushing everyone back up this road – how does it stop pollution?”

An elderly resident said she had tried to visit a friend who lives within the LTN, but her usual route was blocked off: “I had to go all the way back and down to Wood Green,” she said. “It is to do with clean air, but it is not going to be clean air. The people in the next road are going to get all the fumes.”

James Long, another Durnsford Road resident, accused the council of “treating human beings like livestock” and “corralling us at our financial expense”. He said the LTN had made many of his usual journeys impossible, and he was forced to take longer routes as a result.

“I am self-employed, so I work a lot round here,” he said. “If I have power tools to carry, I can’t jump on a bicycle.”

James suggested the scheme was about raising money for the council, and that the 18-month trial period was too long.

Another resident said the road was already busy and could be made busier, but he was undecided about whether the LTN should stay or go.

The LTN will run for a trial period of up to 18 months before a decision is made on its future. During this time, the council will monitor traffic flows and collect data on air quality, crime rates, emergency vehicles and bus times. It says the scheme “must be in place for a sufficient period of time” in order to understand its impact.

Responding to the call for an ANPR system, the council said that if all private vehicles were able to travel through the filters, “we would not see the benefits in terms of improved road safety and reduced noise and air pollution”. Exemptions are in place to allow some groups to travel through the filters, including Blue Badge holders.

Mike Hakata, deputy leader of Haringey Council and cabinet member for climate action, environment and transport, said: “In the past decade, cars have been taking over neighbourhood roads, bringing with them toxic air pollution, noise nuisance and increased road danger. We’re introducing our low-traffic neighbourhoods because we want to reduce the overall volume of traffic in and around the area so that the whole community can benefit from cleaner air and safer streets. Evidence from schemes elsewhere have shown this is possible.

“We also want to encourage people to shop locally. Evidence shows that people who walk and cycle to the shops tend to go more often, stay longer and visit more stores because they don’t have to think about parking or traffic. The Saturday market on Myddleton Road is a good local example of a people-friendly environment supporting local businesses. Examples elsewhere include the Orford Road ‘Mini Holland’ scheme in Waltham Forest, where traders were initially very sceptical, but this is now a thriving street which has become a destination.

“Our low-traffic neighbourhoods are being introduced on a trial basis so that we can see how they work in practice, as well as monitor air quality and traffic data. We will continue to listen to feedback and will not hesitate to make changes to the schemes if there’s evidence that it’s needed and there are solutions we can put in place.”