Overall Views

With apologies for the long bit of writing, here are my overall views.

First I think it’s worth setting a bit of context:

• As I understand it, money for the proposed scheme is made available from the Department of Transport specifically for improving active travel, so if Newham didn’t spend it on LTNs they would have to return the money. As such, I don’t believe Newham could spend this on refuse collection, council tax reductions etc. Happy to be proven wrong.
• As I understand it, the Council don’t have the power to introduce speed cameras. They can put in speed bumps, road narrowing etc. though (I've suggested a few ideas).
• The intent of the scheme is to act as a ‘nudge’ to change behaviour, and to encourage people to walk/cycle more and drive short distances less. I think this is important as:

1. If the outcome is simply (as people are worried) that people carry on driving anyway, and the traffic is pushed onto boundary roads then the outcome isn’t being achieved, and the scheme would be a failure.
2. It means that the idea of residents being able to use the filters doesn’t match the intent of the policy. If anything, allowing residents access could have the reverse impact (i.e. make short journeys easier).
3. It also means that, while the Council would make money initially from the scheme (as people go through filters they shouldn’t), this wouldn’t be a long term revenue stream.

Overall, I agree with the principle of the project and support the LTN on these grounds:

• I’ve used the other LTNs (Earlham/Odessa/West Ham Park) loads to get around in the borough. I didn’t cycle for thirty years until this scheme came in, and they gave me the confidence to do so. I’d hope the extension would do that for other people.
• While I understand people’s points about climate change being a complex issue with loads of contributors, we do know that cars also have a negative impact in terms of air quality, and pose a risk to pedestrians. Newham has been reported as having particularly bad air, and the road casualties data doesn’t make good reading.
• I think that traffic on Capel/Tylney/Sebert is particularly bad, and the data shows those cars are regularly going at an unsafe pace. 
• There is a lot of chat on here about people with a specific need for cars (local businesses/disabled access etc.) and absolutely those journeys should continue to take place. But if we’re honest there are also a lot of short journeys – for example people driving to get kids in and out of school/childcare. If we can just cut down on short journeys like that it would go a long way – and I’m sure more people would walk to/from schools/nurseries if these measures were in place and they felt the streets were safer for their kids.
• As such, I think that the filters on Capel and Balmoral are good ideas. I rarely spend time on the Woodgrange Estate (other than walking/cycling through to visit businesses on Romford Rd/Green St etc.) and have no strong feelings on those filters.

I would however offer the following caveats:

• As above, if this does just displace traffic and put it onto Woodgrange/Romford then the scheme hasn’t worked. It needs to change behaviour as set out, so monitoring would be important.
• Car ownership in this part of the borough is higher than most other parts (and it is one of the wealthier areas), so if there is an active scheme ‘next in line’ to take part I’d be happy for that to leapfrog this (i.e. why should areas with lower car ownership suffer at the expense of areas with higher?).
• It is hard for people to take up cycling when storage is so tricky – especially for anyone living in a flat. It’s easy for residents to park a car on the street but bike hangars are relatively sparse and have long waiting times – as they only take up one car parking space each there should be at least one on every block.
• The area has a massive issue with car idling which I find really annoying. Twice this weekend I asked someone if they wouldn’t mind turning off their engine and were told they needed it on to charge their mobile phone. If we could just find a way of cutting down on this it would make a massive difference.
• East-West active/public travel in the area is pretty good (the tube, Elizabeth line, bus services, cycle lanes/quietways etc.) but North-South isn’t. I think this needs to be looked at to provide a better alternative to the car.