1,000 signatures reached
To: The Mayor of London
Protect our safer streets in Tower Hamlets
We call on the Mayor of London to stand up for the majority of Londoners and residents of Tower Hamlets and prevent Tower Hamlets Council from removing the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) in Bethnal Green and Shoreditch, if necessary by using the legal powers available to him. These LTNs are vital for safer streets, cleaner air, and achieving London's transport strategy goals.
Why is this important?
Tower Hamlets Council is proposing to remove Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTNs) schemes that cost over £2 million to implement. These include pedestrian areas, pocket parks, bike lanes, and new planting that covers an area from the iconic Arnold Circus in the West through to Cambridge Heath Road in the East.
These LTNs, implemented with funding from TfL, protect both residents in the borough and visitors. They create safer roads for cycling and walking while also improving air quality. These improvements are vital for achieving the targets outlined in the Mayor of London's Transport Strategy.
Removing these LTNs would set a damaging precedent for London as a whole and waste £2.5m of public funds. By intervening, the Mayor would be upholding the integrity of London-wide transport policies. This action would ensure that individual boroughs don't undermine progress towards safer, cleaner streets.
- Tower Hamlets has the highest rate of hit and runs in London
- 66% of households in Tower Hamlets don't have access to a car
- The schemes have improved air quality and significantly reduced through traffic
- Three public consultations showed strong support for keeping the LTNs both from local people and more widely.
- Barts Health Trust, Metropolitan Police, TfL, local schools, GPs, and 82% of businesses support keeping the schemes
The way the street is now, it gives me hope for my kids’ future.
Nimao, local resident
I’ve lived in the East End all my life, and this is the best thing that’s ever happened to it.
Spencer, local resident
I think the existing scheme has helped to protect the health of everyone in our community.
Dr. Burman, respiratory consultant and local resident
Sign this petition to urge the Mayor of London to protect these LTNs and stand up for a safer, cleaner, and greener London. Your support can prevent a damaging precedent which could then be followed in other places and ensure public funds are used wisely.
Background and key points
On 20 September 2023, Lutfur Rahman, the Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, decided to rip out the recently introduced Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Bethnal Green and Shoreditch, including pocket parks and the only segregated cycle lane in the area, despite strong local support for the schemes and evidence that the schemes were meeting their aims of safer, cleaner streets for residents.
The High Court is going to consider whether this decision is legal in November after a request by Save Our Safer Streets Tower Hamlets. But even if the court finds in favour of keeping the safer streets in this case, Tower Hamlets Council could still remove the schemes.
The Mayor of London has legal powers he could use to stop the council from carrying out its ill-thought out plans. He could compel the council to rethink and develop plans that fit with his London-wide policies and that protect the health and wellbeing of residents in Tower Hamlets and surrounding boroughs.
We are asking the Mayor of London to stand alongside the Metropolitan Police, Barts Health and Transport for London who say that removing these schemes would cause harm, and that a rethink is required.
The decision to remove these safer streets schemes undermines the goals of clean air and safer streets in the borough. This is especially important because Tower Hamlets has the highest amount of hit and runs in London[1] and among the highest rates of mortality linked to air pollution in the UK[2].
Important Facts and Figures:
- Three public consultations (2019, 2022 and 2023)[3] showed strong support for keeping the LTNs. The most recent consultation revealed 58% of local residents and over 75% of all respondents favoured maintaining the current schemes.
- Tower Hamlets has the highest rate of hit and runs in London. According to the Mayor’s 2021 Vision Zero Action plan update, 70% of road deaths and serious injuries occur on borough roads[4]. We believe that LTNs are crucial for improving road safety and working towards Vision Zero.
- 66% of households in Tower Hamlets don't have access to a car[5]. LTNs have made streets safer and healthier for everyone with improved air quality[6] and significant drop in through traffic on roads in the area[7]. Children walk to school more safely, breathing cleaner air. Elderly and disabled people are using new community spaces to socialise.
- Barts Health Trust, the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, local schools, GPs, and 82% of businesses all support keeping the schemes[8]. They cite improvements in health, safety, and reductions in anti-social behaviour.
- The LTN scheme cost over £2 million to implement in 2020-2021. Their removal will cost at least another £2.5 million, which is not currently budgeted for[9]. This is a scandalous misuse of public funds.
- The main powers we refer to in this petition are given to the Mayor of London under Part IV of the Greater London Authority Act 1999. These legal powers enable him to intervene in borough transport policy where a borough’s policies do not align sufficiently with the London Mayoral policies as laid out in the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy. These powers exist to ensure that London-wide goals for transport can be achieved. In this case, Tower Hamlets' decision to remove Low Traffic Neighbourhoods directly contradicts the Mayor's strategy to promote active travel and reduce car dependency in London.
The decision to rip out the low traffic neighbourhood risks encouraging other boroughs in London and Local Authorities across the UK to roll back progress in combating air pollution and unsafe streets. While this particular situation is based in Tower Hamlets, the outcome will have implications across London and beyond.
At a time when the Mayor of London is in danger of not meeting his own targets for his transport and climate policies, it is vital he takes a robust approach to ensuring that all boroughs are working together towards the same goals and that boroughs aren’t moving backwards.
By signing this petition, you're calling on the Mayor of London to stand up for a safer, cleaner and greener city.
