News on Newham Waltham Forest LTN

As part of our weekly analysis of the feedback we receive through the Commonplace website, we look for common themes among the comments from local people. This is to ensure we’re able to address key concerns or areas of interest and provide reassurance that we are listening to feedback.

Over the past couple of weeks, as most of the work has been completed, we have seen an increase in comments regarding access for all, whether that be residents, delivery drivers, the emergency services or less mobile residents. This news update focuses on this topic to provide more detail on access and what we have looked at when developing the scheme. However, please remember you can continue to provide feedback on the Commonplace website if there are specific issues you would like to highlight.

The fundamental aims of the Low Traffic Neighbourhood scheme are to reduce the impact of traffic on local residents, reduce road danger, and encourage and support more people to walk, cycle and use sustainable forms of transport. This can be achieved by using modal filters to reduce the number of motorised vehicles (such as cars, vans, motorbikes etc) that use residential areas as ‘cut throughs’ from the main roads, and to encourage local people to make local journeys by different means, if they can, than simply jumping in the car because it is the convenient thing to do.

By reducing traffic volumes and speeds, we make roads safer for the many people who use them, such as children walking, scooting or cycling to school, people who walk and cycle locally more generally, and for those who would like to take up cycling or walk to places but do not feel safe or comfortable to do so.

Encouraging more people to walk, cycle, and generally be more active, has a wide range of individual and collective benefits including improved public health, improved productivity and reduced pressure on public transport and health systems.

We do of course realise that some people can’t walk, cycle or use public transport and rely on private vehicles to get around. We also know that some journeys that continue to be made by car or private vehicle may be slightly longer as a result of the changes. This is also why we ensure that absolutely all properties remain fully accessible by motor vehicle, to ensure residents with limited mobility continue to have vehicle access should they need it.

It should however be noted that there are many disabled and less mobile residents who do not have access to a private vehicle, and around 50% of overall residents, in both Newham and Waltham Forest, do not have access to a car, and so changes like this will have a significant positive impact on how a large number of people move around their local area. In the longer term, as more people use alternative modes of transport for those shorter journeys, where they can, this frees up road space for those who really need it. However, if you do have specific access needs or concerns, please contact your council directly to discuss this in more detail.

For those who are more reliant on travelling by private motor vehicle, such as less mobile residents, we also know that parking availability can be as much of an issue, if not more so, than changes to access routes. If you have any specific parking related concerns, particularly if they pre-date the scheme, please contact your council directly. For example, you may be eligible for a disabled parking bay near your home which may help with local access.

We know Emergency Service access can be a concern and we need to make sure that they can continue to provide a vital service for the community. Both councils work closely with the Emergency Services on all schemes to ensure they are fully consulted, and a few adjustments have been made to this scheme in response to Emergency Service feedback. Most notably this is why some of the road closures do not include physical measures to prevent access, so that the emergency services continue to have a number of unobstructed routes within the area. Please be assured that we continue to liaise regularly with the Emergency Services to ensure the scheme is working for them and any significant issues are identified early.

Don’t forget to read our ‘ Your questions answered ’ section to see if we’ve already answered some of your questions.

Thank you for reading,

The LTN Team