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KIM Newsletters

Newsletters or updates sent out to all KIM Supporters in order of most recent first

Update June 10, 2024

Dear KIM Supporter

 

Six months on from our last update there is little to report at the local level. Islington Council continues to be unresponsive about its LTN programme but the start of the Phase 3 Barnsbury.Laycock LTN/LN consultation process appears to be on hold for the time being and may not now start until the end of the year, if then.

 

On the other hand there has been significant positive progress at Government and mainstream media level. The DfT review, as expected, was quite critical of local authority LTN initiatives since Covid, and resulted in a range of sensible government guidance measures which on the face of it, should make it a lot more difficult for councils such as Islington to introduce flawed traffic management measures which go against the wishes of local residents and businesses. There was then a parliamentary debate which raised the hope that the government was serious about enforcing their guidance through, for example, restricting councils' ability to raise revenues from traffic camera violation charges. Unfortunately, the next day a general election was announced so it will not be clear for some months whether this positive shift in government policy will be maintained.

 

Elsewhere in the country there have been several encouraging and high profile examples of councils reversing LTN implementation plans including, recently, Newcastle, Streatham and Exeter. In all these cases, the council was forced to back down in the face of intensive lobbying and petitions from local residents.

 

Here in Islington, perhaps the most important LTN-sceptic development has been a report commissioned by BDC/BID which showed clearly that the local business community is overwhelmingly opposed to the council's plans to effectively shut down east-west traffic across Barnsbury.Laycock through road closures policed by traffic cameras. Street-by-street canvassing of local shops by KIM has confirmed this.

 

You can read about all these developments on the website. What they mean for our cause is, of course, anyone's guess in the absence of any meaningful dialogue with the Council. Whilst there might be reasonable grounds for optimism that the Council will see sense over Barnsbury.Laycock, we must be vigilant in case they don't, and be ready to mobilise a vigorous campaign at short notice including leafleting, referenda and demonstrations if the Phase 3 proposals go ahead. KIM's message will, as from the outset, be "No compromise: no road closures or traffic filtering in Barnsbury.Laycock"!

 

Kind regards, Nick

Update January 28, 2024

Dear KIM Supporter

 

Since the Phase 2 Barnsbury.Laycock LTN/LN consultation process ended last October there has been little in the way of significant announcements by the Council. Disappointingly, they are refusing to publish the consultation results of not just Phase 2 but also Phase 1 until Phase 3 (see below). We suspect this is because the results would reveal widespread opposition to the B.L proposals and we are protesting vigorously.

 

As part of a new budget announcement the Council has, however, reiterated its intention to extend its LTN programme to cover 70% of the borough and has identified four new proposed LTNs around Tufnell Park and Dartmouth Park in addition to B.L (see our letter to the Tribune at https://keepislingtonmoving.com/media#modest-proposal ). So we must all continue to fight until it is recognised that LTNs represent a failed transport management policy which simply does not work.

 

In this respect, arguably the most encouraging development over the past few months has been the change of heart of the Conservative government which is no longer funding new schemes and has initiated a review of LTNs by the Department for Transport (DfT). We have sent several letters to the DfT with evidence that Islington's LTN programme is misguided and its consultation process is seriously flawed. See our website item at https://keepislingtonmoving.com/home#dft-review which includes links to Transport Minister Mark Harper's "Plan for Drivers" and examples of our inputs to the DfT review.

 

We continue to email Islington's Executive Committee with important KIM research reports. Our last was on the failed St Mary's LTN and our letter included copies of two previous emails - see https://keepislingtonmoving.com/articles#executive-committee . We are also active on Twitter (as @KeepIzMoving), Nextdoor (as Nick Collin, Barnsbury) and in the pages of the Tribune (many contributors!). This all helps to change hearts and minds, both locally and nationally, so if you'd like to add your support, please join the conversation.

 

In December a delegation from Keep Barnsbury Moving (KBM) met at the Town Hall with Councillors Rowena Champion, Praful Nargund and Nurullah Turan. Rowena surprised us by saying that Phase 3 consultations prior to a formal LTN/LN plan for B.L would now not happen until after the mayoral elections in May. We're not sure about the precise implications of this but on balance it is surely positive.

 

The KBM meeting was quite constructive and open and whilst the Council is clearly still wedded to its existing B.L plans for now, we were able to raise a large number of concerns which Rowena has promised to look into. We are also trying to arrange similar meetings with other Councillors including those representing Laycock residents.

 

All in all I'm now more rather than less optimistic that we can halt road closures in B.L. and if we can do that, then we may be able to reverse the negative aspects of other existing Islington LTNs. But it will require relentless lobbying on all our parts, not just of the Council, but also of government and institutions such as the DfT, and perhaps most importantly of all our neighbours who live and work here. So please keep fighting the good fight!

 

 

Kind regards, Nick

Update October 17, 2023

Dear KIM Supporter

 

Once again our focus in this update is on the Barnsbury.Laycock LTN proposals.

 

Many thanks to all those involved in our massive campaign to deliver 10,000 SAY NO TO BARNBURY AND LAYCOCK LTN leaflets to almost all Barnsbury.Laycock households and shops. A reminder that you can find the leaflet and print it out here: https://www.keepislingtonmoving.com/barnsbury.

 

The feedback from the leafleting campaign has been encouraging. Practically no-one supports the Council's proposals. Although quite a lot of people were initially not really aware of the proposals, they quickly became quite vehemently anti-LTN as soon as the implications were explained. The key thing here was the coloured map showing the 15 traffic filters on the back of the leaflet. This illustrates how any journey across Barnsbury, or within Barnsbury from one coloured section to another, will involve driving long distances, sometimes miles, along our "boundary" roads - Caledonian Rd, Mackenzie Rd, Liverpool Rd, Holloway Rd, Upper St, Copenhagen St and Tolpuddle St. So not just huge inconvenience for anyone who relies on a car or van, especially tradespeople, but also more pollution, more CO2, and much more congestion on all the boundary roads, which will be a nightmare for all the unfortunate people who live or work there.

 

The consultation period ends this Sunday, 22 October. So if you haven't yet emailed the Council on barnsbury.laycock.LN@islington.gov.uk or completed their survey, please do so, and encourage as many people as possible to do the same. What you say is up to you, but my top three complaints are:

  • The LTN proposals will cause congestion on boundary roads

  • They will kill off local businesses

  • The Council's consultation process has been deeply unsatisfactory

 

Remember: LTNs Don't Work - Say No to the Barnsbury.Laycock Proposals.

 

Kind regards, Nick

Update February 1, 2023

Dear KIM Supporter

 

Following the Council's announcement of their insane proposals for a Barnsbury.Laycock "Liveable Neighbourhood" we and our sister group Keep Barnsbury Moving (KBM) are fighting a vigorous campaign to oppose them. We are adopting a no-compromise approach of "Just Say No to All Road Closures in Barnsbury". We've designed an appropriate leaflet which you can find at www.keepislingtonmoving.com/barnsbury and we'll be posting this across the area very soon.

 

Probably the best thing we can all do now is engage with the Council's Phase 2 consultation, however flawed it may be, and make sure our voice is heard. We therefore reiterate the advice to visit https://www.islington.gov.uk/roads/people-friendly-streets/liveable-neighbourhoods/barnsbury-laycock, study the proposals closely, then provide appropriate feedback via the survey and the Council email address (barnsbury.laycock.LN@islington.gov.uk). 

 

And tell all your friends and everyone you meet!  We have a limited time to make as many people as possible aware of the proposals and encourage them to oppose the Council.

 

Several of you will have already attended the Council's online meeting and workshops at the Town Hall. My impression is that the anti-LTN voice was in the majority this time around which is a welcome contrast to the Phase 1 consultation where I felt we were drowned out by the pro-LTN/cycling lobby.

 

There is one more Business Workshop scheduled for Friday 13th October and I suggest you urge your favourite tradespeople and small businesses to register via the Council website above. This group will be one of the worst affected by the proposals and it is important that the Council understands this.

 

The other main victims of the proposals are of course those living on our main roads such as Liverpool Road, Caledonian Road, Upper Street, Holloway Road and now Mackenzie Road which will inevitably become much more congested. Anything you can do to build awareness of the proposals amongst this group and encourage their opposition will help our cause.

 

As always, if you have anything to say about these or any other LTN issues we'd love to hear from you.

 

Kind regards, Nick

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